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AMI K ICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION 



American 
Public Works Association 



SECOND CONVENTION 



ATLANTA, GA., 

September 14th and 15th, 1906 




PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



Atlanta, Ga.: 

I^aHatte Printing & Stationery Co. 

1907. 



CONTENTS ^ ^ 

Index to Advertisers, 3 

Presidents of tlie Association, 4 

Conventions of the Association, 4 

Membership List, T 

By-Laws, 12 

Association Kules, 20 

Officers and Committees, , 5 

Address of Joseph S. Slicer, Esq., 25 

Address of Welcome, Hon. James G. Woodward, ... .27 

President's Address, 30 

Eeport of the Execntive Committee, 34 

Kejiort of the Secretary, 31 

Leadite, Geo. McKay, , 37 

Oost-Plns-a-Fixed-Siim-Contract, Frank Gilbreth, 54 

Snrety Bonds, Fair Dodd, 44 

Contracts as a Whole, E. C. Hnston, C. E., Ill 

Engineering Fees, Chas. C. Wilson, C. E., 86 

Reduction of Insurance Premiums, W. F. Wilcox, C.E., 69 

Address of Judge Hilly er, 82 

Legal Pitfalls, William B. King, Esq., 96 

Committee on Uniform Contracts, 150 

Standardization of Hydrant Nozzles, W. H. Hume, 188 

Invitation of Atlanta Water Works, 81 

Report of Committee on By-Laws, 121 

Report of Committee on Finance, 145 

Report of Committee on Membership, 134 

Report of Committee on Rules, 136 

Report of Nominating Committee, 147 

Eh'ction of Ofticc^rs, 150 

In Mc^moriam, 135 

Report, Ex-Treasnrer H. J. Mj;ilochee, 163 

()rgjniiz;Hioii fleeting, . . 1 .\\ 159 

SinokcM*, '.'.* 1S3 

Members ;i( Second Coiivenlion, 23 

2 






INDEX TO ADVERTISEMENTS 

The special attention of the members of the American Public Works 
Association, is called to the advertisements of the representative firms 
whose names are contained in this index. The liberality of the advertisers 
has made it possible to publish this book, and the American Public Works 
Association, through its Kxecutive Committee, extends its thanks to each 
of the firms that has taken space in this book. 

Abee & Edwards, x 

Allis Chalmers Co., xv. 

Bourbon Copper & Brass Works Co., xv. 

Cliicai>o Bridge & Irou AYorks, ix. 

K Wilson Davis, vi. 

The Dinimick Pipe Co Back Cover 

Fair Dodd, xiv. 

Eureka Fire Hose Co., xii. 

General Contracting Co., 185 

General Electric Co., v. 

Frank Gilbreth, iii. 

Glenny & Castanedo, 7 186 

Hardie-Tynes Manufacturing Co., vii. 

Huston Engineering Co., • vi. 

Geo A. and William B. King, xiii. 

The Leadite Co., xii. 

Martin J. Lide, viii. 

A. M. Lockett & Co., v. 

Lombard Iron Works and Supply Co., .xvi. 

Manufacturers' Kecord Pub. Co., i. 

The John H. McGowan Co., xi. 

Edward J. O'Beirne, 185 

Orleans Engineering Co., iv. 

Pacific Flush Tank Co., ii. 

Arthur Pew, 186 

The Piatt Iron Works Co., xyi. 

Southern Contracting Co., xiv. 

Southern Sewer Pipe Co., x. 

J. S. Slicer, xiii. 

The Subers Co., ii. 

IT. S. Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co., Front Cover 

Watson-Flagg Engineering Co., iv. 

K. D. Wood & Co., vii. 

3 



PRESIDENTS OF THE ASSOCIATION 



J. A. OMBERG, Jr.. C. E. 
Of m em ph is 

R, C. HUSTON, C. E. 

OF HATTIESBURG 



CONVENTIONS ofthe ASSOCIATION 



FIRST 

GuLFPORT. August 26-27, 1904 



SECOND 

Atlanta, September 14-15, 1906 



OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 



OFFICEES. 

Eicliard C. llustou, Presideut. 

Matthew F. Cole, First Mce-Presideut. 

Charles C. Wilsou, Second A^ice-President. 

George O. Tenuey, Third Alce-President. 

William II. Flint, Secretary. 

Morgan Llewellyn, Tueasnrer. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Edward J. O'Beirne, Chairman. 
A. J. Bowron, C. M. Ladd, 

Charles F. McKenzie, Maurice W. Thomas, 

John W. Xeil, Joseph S. Slicer, 

A. M. Lockett, William B. King. 

co-:n^yentio:n" committee. 

Maurice W. Thomas, Chairman. 
E. O. Bntner A. F. Giles, 

Walter Castanedo, J. R. Gordon, 

Adam W. Jones, Fair Dodd. 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 

Matthew F. Cole, Chairman. 
A. J. Bowron, William F. Wilcox, 

COMMITTEE ON RULES. 
George O. Tenney, Chairman. • 
N. Wilson Davis, Charles C. Wilson 

James E. Brady, Maurice W. Thomas, 

Adam W. Jones, Charles F. McKenzie. 

5 



COMMITTEE ON BY-LAWS. 

\ William B. King, Cliairinan. 

Joseph S. Slicer, Fair Dodd. 

COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP. 

Morgan Llewellj^n, Chairman. 
Patrick J. Crimmins, Eugene C. Butner. 

COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM CONTRACTS. 

George O. Tenney, Chairman. 
Charles C. Wilson, William B. King, 

Edward J. O'Beirne, W^illiam F. Wilcox, 

Joseph S. Slicer, Fair Dodd. 

COMMITTEE ON STANDARDIZATION. 
W. H. Hume, Chairman. 
P. J. Crimmins, T. J. liaise}^, 



MEMBERSHIP 

Adams & Bagiiall Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
D. K. Abbott, Spriiig-liekl, Ohio. 
Abee & Edwards, Contractors, Hickory, X. C. 
Alirens & Ott Mfg. Co., Xew Orleans, La. 
Allis-Clialniers Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
American Oast Iron Pi2)e Co., Birmingham, Ala. 
American Light & Water Co., Kansas City, Mo. 
Atlas Engine AVorks, Atlanta, Ga. 
F. C. Anstin, Drainage ExcaA^ator Co., Chicago, 111. 
AV. E. Anstin Co., Mannfactnrers, Atlanta, Ga. 
F. 11. Beenian, Contractor, Lonisville, Ky. 
Black & Laird, Contractors, ]S^ew Orleans, La. 
Algernon Blair, Contractor, Montgomery, Ala. 
Blackmer & Post Pipe Co., St. Louis, Mo. 
Bonrbon Copper & Brass Wks. Co., Cincinnati, O. 
Bosler & Flynn, Contractors, Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Bostrom Brad}^ Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Wm. F. Bowe, Contractor, Augusta, Ga. 
K. AY. Brahan, Agent, Huntsyille, Ala. 
T. C. Bradford, Con. Eng., Hattiesburg, Miss. 
T. C. Brooks & Son, Contractors, Jackson, Mich. 
Bryant & Co., Contractors, Jacksonyille, Fla. 
AY. O. Burton, Contractor, New Orleans, La. 
P. Byrne, C. E., Birmingham, Ala. 
Tom J. Byrne, Contractor, St. Louis, Mo. 
John J. Cain, Contractor, Columbia, S. C. 
C. H. Campbell, Fabric Fire Hose Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
The Philip Cary Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Jno. AA\ Carsey, Greenyille, Tex. 
The Casey-Hedges Mfg. Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Oastoe & AA^arner, Contractors, Bellaire, Ohio. 
Central Foundry Co., New York. 
Chattanooga Boiler & Tank Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Chattanooga Sew^er Pipe & F. B. Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Chicago Bridge & Iron AA^orks, Chicago, 111. 
Chicago Engineering & Construction Co., Chicago, 111. 

7 



Crocker- Wheeler Co., New Orleans, La. 

R D. Oole Mfg. Co., Newnan, Ga. 

W. W. Cook & Son, Junction City, Kansas. 

W. W. Corey, Eensselaer Mfg. Co., St. Louis, Mo. 

W. K. Conard, C. E., Burlinglian, N. J. 

Columbia Incandescent Lamp Co., Memphis, Tenn. 

H. H. Corson, General Electric Co., Nashville, Tenn. 

Crocker-Wheeler Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Colcord Lumber Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

N. Wilson Davis, C. E., Harrisonburg, Ya. 

Moise De Leon, Contractor, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. S. Dickey, Clay Mfg. Co., Kansas City, Mo. 

The Dimmick Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala. 

Fair Dodd, Aetna Indemnity Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

R E. Douglas, Marks Elec. Con. Co., New Orleans, La. 

Electric Appliance Co., Memphis, Tenn. 

Electric Supply Co., Memphis, Tenn. 

Electric Supply Co., Savannah, Ga. 

Erie City Iron Works, New Orleans, La. 

Ewing Merkle Electric Co., St. Louis, Mo. 

J. D. Elliott, Contractor, Hickor^^, N. C. 

The Fairbanks Co., New Orleans, La. 

Ben 0. Fennel, Mfg. Agent, Atlanta, Ga. 

Fort Wayne Electric Works, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. B. Ford, H. Mueller Mfg. Co., Birmingham^ Ala. 

Sam'l E. Flint, Mfgr. Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 

J. A. Gaboury & Son, Jacksonville, Ala. 

General Contracting Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

General Electric Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Gamewell Fire Alarm & Telegraph Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Gardner Governor Co., Quincy, 111. 

Frank B. Gilbreth, Contractor, New York. 

Ghmioi'gan Pipe & Fdy. Co., Lynchburg, Ya. 

(Jlcmiy «fc Caslauedo, N(^w Oi'leans, La. 

J. (\ Guild, C. E., Chattanooga, Tenn. 

W. T. lladlow, Ajlanla,(hi. 



llardie-Tjnes Mfg. Co., Biriiiiiigliam, Ala. 
Stanley G. I. Elec. Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
W. II. llariis, E. 11. Abadie Co., St. Lonis, Mo. 
Harrisbnrg Fd}^ & Machine Works, Harrisbnrg, Pa. 
P. O. Herbert (Enreka Fire Hose Co..) Atlanta, Ga. 
llarrisou Safet}' Boiler AVorks, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Heine Safety Boiler Co., New Orleans, La. 
Herron Pnmp & Fdy. Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Hoovens, Owens & Rentschler, Atlanta, Ga. 
E. C. Ilnston, C. E., Hattiesbnrg, Miss. 
International Steam Pnmp Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
G. Jaeger, Contractor, Rich Hill, Mo. 
W. M. Jewell, C. E., Chicago, HI. 
Granbery Jackson, C. E., Nashville, Tenn. 
W. B. Jennison, Atlanta, Ga. 
M. H. Kelly, Contractor, Asheville, N. C. 
Keasby & Mattison Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Geo. A. & W. B. Lving, Law^^ers, Washington, D. C 
Edwin F. Kitson, So. Contracting Co., Norfolk, Ta. 
Xayier A. Kramer, C. E., Magnolia, Miss. 
Lambert Hoisting Eug. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Latta & Martin Pump Co., Hickory, N. C. 
W. M. Leftwich Co., Nashyille, Tenn. 
M. T. Lewman & Co., Louisville, Ky. 
Martin J. Lide, C. E., Birmingham, Ala. 
A. M. Lockett & Co., New Orleans, La. 
W. D. Lovell, C. E., Minneapolis, Minn. 
Lynchburg Foundry & Machine Co., Lynchburg, Va. 
L^'on & Harvey, Engineers, Memphis, Tenn. 
J. B. McCrary, C. E., Atlanta, Ga. 
W. T. McCormick, O. E., Charlotte, N. C. 
L. W. McDaniel & Co., McComb Oty, Miss. 
D. B. McFadden, Austin Western Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
W. J. McGee, Contractor, Jackson, Miss. 
Jno. H. McGowan Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Geo. McKay, Mgr., The Leadite Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 

9 



Jno. H. McKeiizie Sons^ Augusta, Ga. 
McQuatters Plumbing* & Mch. Co., Hillsboro, Tex. 
Manufacturers' Eecord Publisliing Co., Baltimore, Md- 
Wm. 0. Massey, Massey Reporting Co., Atlanta, Gra. 
Tlie Mann Building & Mfg. Co., Vicksburg, Miss. 
J. E. Minter, C. E., Macon, Ga. 
A. J. Mitchell, Adams Bagnall Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
H. Clay Moore, Atlanta, Ga. 
W. M. Money, Contractor, Laurel, Miss. 
Montague & Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Luke D. Mullen, Coleman Bros., Boston, Mass. 
H. H. Meadows, Babcock & Wilcox Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Howard Neely, Contractor, Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Edward J. O'Beirne, Engineer, Atlanta, Ga. 
Wm. J. Oliver, Contractor, Knoxville, Tenn. 
A. H. Olmsted, C. E., Lake City, S. C. 
J. A. Omberg, Jr., C. E., Memphis, Tenn. 
Orleans Engineering Co., New Orleans, La. 
A. M. Ozburn, Mfg. Agent, Chicago, 111. 
Pacific Flush Tank Co., Chicago, 111. 
Ralf H. Parker, So. Pav. & Con. Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
J. R. Patton, R. R. Contractor, Atlanta, 111. 
A. L Patterson, Contractor, Macon, Ga. 
Piatt Iron Works Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
Arthur Pew, C. E., Atlanta, Ga. 
Piedmont Electric Co., Anderson, S. C. 
P. n. Porter, C. El, Clinton, Ky. 
W. C. Porter, Contractor, Laurel, Miss. 
Geo. Ad Preuss, Mfg. Agt., Augusta, Ga. 
E. G. Richardson, Good Roads Mchy. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
J. G. Robertson, Contractor, St. Paul, Minn. 
Ro(^ Stephens Mfg. Co., O. W. Thomas, Detroit, ]\rich. 
0. I). Rogers, Contractor, Gloster, Miss. 
W. II. RoiK^y, Chicago, 111. 
Jos. M. Roman & Co., EngiiuHM's, Allaiita, Ga. 
J. T. Rose, Contractor, Albnila, Ga. 
A. P>. Siiiiders, Contractor, Sln'ev(>i)()r(, L;i. 

10 



{Sciple iSuiis, Mfg. Agts., Atlanta, Chi. 
Earl F. Seutt, M. E., Jacksou, Mih;«. 
•X. IS. iSliermau Macliiuery Co., Oklahoma City, Okla. 
J. S. Slicer, Lawyer, Atlanta, Ga. 
Southern Sewer Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala. 
Spranley & Keed, Supplies, >^'e\v Orleans, La. 
T. J. Spriggs, Dwyer Plunibg. & lltg. Co., St. Paul, Minn. 
Standard Underground Cable Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
AV. M. Stearns, Fort AA^iyne Elec. Works, Atlanta, Ga. 
Roy W. Stooke}', Contractor, Belleville, 111. 
Sullivan & Long, Contractors, Bessemer, Ala. 
Subers Co., Manufacturers, Macon, Ga. 
P. F. Streiman, New Orleans, La. 
W. B. Talley, Engineer, JacksouAille, Fla. 
Geo. O. Tenney, Contractor, Spartanburg, S. C. 
E. II. Thompson, Agt., Crane Co., Macon, Ga. 
M. H. Treadwell & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
J. M. Umstadber, Mfrs. Agt., Xorfolk, Ya. 
United States Cast Iron Pipe & Fdy. Co., Xew York. 
M. C. Yandiver, Contractor, Atlanta, Ga. 
Yirginia Bridge & Iron Co., Roanoke, and Atlanta. 
Jas. F. Yickery, Kelly Road Roll. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 
The Walsh & AYeidner Boiler Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Warren Webster Co., J. B. Dobson, Mgr., Atlanta, Ga. 
G. E. AVatts Co., Manufacturers, Atlanta, Ga. 
Watson Flagg Engineering Co., Xew York. 
Weatherford & Carey Bros., Memphis, Tenn. 
Wesco Supply Co., St. Louis, Mo. 
Paul Wesley, Genl. Contractor, Atlanta, Ga. 
Y^est Construction Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Y^estinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., Atlanta, 
■X. M. Y^haley, Jno. A. Roebling Sons Co., Atlanta, Ga 
Ben Ylllard, General Electric Co., Xew Orleans, La. 
A. D. Wilcox, C. E., Jackson, Miss. 
Y^m. F. Y^ilcox, C. E., Meridian, Miss. 
Chas. C. Yllson, C. E., Columbia, S. C. 
Xisbet Y^ing-field, C. E.. Augusta, Ga. 
Xewton Yllcoxson, Mfg. Agt. Chicago, 111. 

11 



BY-LAWS 



ARTICLE I. 

Name and Object. 

Tlie Association existing under these by-laws is a na- 
tional association of manufacturers, engineers, contrac- 
tors, material men, and others, who may be interested in 
]3ublic works. 

Its objects are to standardize general specilications in 
engineering and architectural contracts; to make rules 
for the construction of public works; to improve the con- 
ditions of such construction; to hold meetings for the 
consideration of papers and for discussion upon all sub- 
jects connected with the construction of public works; 
and in all other ways to promote harmonious relations 
between manufacturers, engineers, contractors and offi- 
cers of municipal corporations, and other public authori- 
ties, local, State or national, engaged in the construction 
of public works. 

ARTICLE II. 

OfScers. 
The officers shall consist of a President, three Vice- 
Presidents, Secretar}^, Treasurer, and an Executive Com- 
mittee of nine members. They shall be elected by the 
members of the Association for a term of one year, or 
until their successors are elected and qualified, at each 
annual election thereafter, said election to be lield im- 
mediately after the general business of the annual meet- 
ing of the Association and bc^fore its adjournment, com- 
mencing with the year 1905. All vacancies shall be filled 
by the Executive Commit t(M\ 

12 



AirncLEiii. 

Govcriiiueiit. 

1. The goveruiiieiit and mauagement of the Association 
is conMed to the Execntive Committee. 

2. Any member of the Executive Committee who shall 
fail to respond to three consecutive communications from 
the Chairman or the Secretar^^, concerning the business 

I of the Association, unless he shall have previously ob- 
tained permission so to do from the Executive Commit- 
tee, or shall present an excuse for such failure, shall be 
deemed to have resigned his office. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Executive Committee. 

1. The Executive Committee shall have the control and 
management of the Association. 

2. It shall have power to make or authorize all con- 
tracts for purchases. 

3. To appoint such committees as it may consider nec- 
essary, and to define their duties. 

4. To prescribe rules for the admission of papers and 
members. 

5. To ^x. the time and place of the annual meeting of 
the Association, and to call sj)ecial meetings of the Asso- 
ciation to consider a specific subject. 

6. To fill vacancies in the Executive Committee and 
officers caused b}^ death, resignation or otherwise, until 
the next regular annual election of the Association. 

7. The Executive Committee shall have the power to 
censure, suspend or expel from the Association any 
member, for just cause, by a vote of not less than five 
members, a copy of the charges having been fir.?t fur- 
nished to the accused with an opportunity of being heard 
in his defense. 

13 



8. To generally manage and conduct all matters neces- 
sary for the welfare of tlie Association, when such duty is 
ijot imposed upon some other officer by the by-laws. 

9. There shall be no appeal from the decisions of the 
Executive Committee, except as hereinafter provided. 

10. The Executive Committee shall have the right to 
call upon any member, including the accused, to make, on 
honor, a full statement, oral or written, in reference to 
any infraction of the rules of the Association. 

11. In no case, when a resolution has been adopted at a 
meeting of the Executive Committee affecting the rela- 
tions of a member towards the Association, shall such 
resolution be considered and acted upon at a subsequent 
meeting, without notice in writing being sent by the Sec- 
retaiy, or Chairman, to each member of the Executive 
Committee, at least one week before the meeting, that 
such action is contemplated. 

12. The Executive Committee shall meet as often as 
may become necessary, or conduct its business by corre- 
spondence. 

13. Special meetings of the Executive Committee may 
be called to order by the Chairman or of any five of its 
members. 

14. A majority of its members shall coustitute a quo- 
rum of the Executive Committee. 

AETICLE Y. 
Membership. 

1. Members shall be classed as regular and honorary. 

2. E(^giilar members are such as are admitted to mem- 
bership, beiDg identified Avith the interests of the Asso- 
ciation, and are subject to dues and assessments. They 
alone have the riglit to vote and hold office. 

3. TTonorary members are such as are elected to honor- 
ary iiicnibeishii) by the Ass()ciati(m, and are not subject 
1(> (lues niid assessments. 

14 



4. The r(^<4'iilar iiK'iiibershii) is unlimited. 

5. The {Secretary shall enter the date of application, 
which shall be referred to the Executive Committee, the 
proceediugs of which thereon shall be secret aud couti- 
dential, and uo member of said Committee shall be ques- 
tioned as to the action of the committee. 

G. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to 
make a careful examination and to consider all communi- 
cations in reference to each individual proposed. 

7. It shall be the duty of each member of the Associa- 
tion possessed of any information derogatory to the char- 
cater of the applicants, or knowing any good reason why 
the applicants should not become members, to communi- 
cate the same to the committee. All such communica- 
tions shall be held by the committee in strict confidence. 

8. Tw^o negative votes in the Executive Committee shall 
prevent the election of any person for membership, and 
the application shall be returned. The Executive Com- 
mittee shall, at its regular meetings, or at such subse- 
quent time as it may appoint, vote on the election or re- 
jection of each applicant for membership. 

9. After the election the Secretary shall notify the 
elected thereof, and furnish him with a copy of the by- 
laws and rules; and upon his acknowledgement thereof 
upon the form prescribed by the Association, he shall 
be considered as having subscribed to the by-laws and 
rules, and upon payment of the membership fee, he shall 
be entitled to all the rights of a member. 

10. Any person elected and not complying with tlie 
foregoing requirements within thirty days from the time 
of his election, shall be considered as having' declined to 
become a member, and his election shall be void. 



15 



ARTICLE VI. 

Resignations. 
All resignations shall be in writing, addressed to the 
Secretary. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Dues. 

1. The membership fee shall be Five Dollars. 

2. The annual dues shall be Two Dollars, payable in 
advance, at or before the time appointed for the annual 
meeting. Members elected before the annual meeting 
shall not be liable for dues before the next meeting. 

ARTICLE YIII. 

Penalties. 

Any member who shall fail to pay the dues for three 

months after they become due shall, upon the facts being 

presented to the Executive Committee, cease to be a 

member. 

ARTICLE IX. 

Notices. 
Any member may inscribe in a book to be kept by the 
Secretary of the Association, a mail address for notices 
prescribed by the by-laws and rules. In the absence of 
such inscription such notices shall be served by deposit- 
ing them in the mail addressed to him at his place of 
business at time of admission to membership, and he 
shall be held to have received them within ^ye dajB after 
they are so mailed. 

ARTICLE X. 
Meetings. 
1. There shall be an annual meeting of the Association, 
at such time and place as the Executive Committee may 
name, for reception and consideration of the reports of 
the officers and committees, and for the consideration of 
such other business as may be brought before it. 

16 



2. If uo quonim be present, the presiding- officer shall 
adjuiiru the meetiii<»" to any other day with the same ef- 
fect as if hehl as above. 

3. Upon the written recpiest of twenty members, the 
ExeeutiYe Committee shall call a special meetin.t:: to con- 
sider a specific subject, and at such nieetin<>- no other bus- 
iness shall be considered except that specified in the call. 

4. Twenty members shall constitute a quorum at any 
meetino' of the Association. 

5. The order of business at regular Association meet- 
inpjs shall be: 

1. Reading of the Minutes. 

2. Reports of Officers. 

3. Reports of Committees. 

4. General Business. 

5. Election of Ofticers. 

ARTICLE XI. 
Election of Officers. 

1. The fii'st election to be held under these by-laws shall 
be before the conclusion of each annual meeting, com- 
mencing Avith the year 1905, for a President, three Vice- 
Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, and nine members of 
the Executive Committee. Said officers shall hold their 
offices for one year, and until their successors are elected. 

2. Members in default for dues or other indebtedness to 
the Association are not entitled to vote. 

3. The persons receiving the highest number of votes 
shall be declared elected, provided not less than twenty 
votes have been cast; and no election shall be valid unless 
twenty votes have been cast thereat. Provided, however, 
at any annual meeting it shall be lawful to direct the 
casting of the vote of the Association for any one or more 
of the officers to be elected, and if the motion be sus- 

17 



tained by as many as four-fiftlis of those present and vot- 
ing", such election shall be held in this manner. 

4. In the event there is no election, the vacancies shall 
be filled by the Executive Committee as hereinbefore pro- 
vided; bnt such election shall only be for the unexpired 
term. 

ARTICLE XII. 
Duty of Ofacers. 

1. The President, and in his absence one of the Vice- 
Presidents, shall preside at all meetings of the Associa- 
tion. In the event of their absence, a meeting of the As- 
sociation or of the Executive Committee may elect a pre- 
siding oflftcer. 

2. The Secretary shall give notice to the members of 
all meetings of the Association; and of any papers or 
special business to be considered; record the proceedings 
thereof; call the roll of members; note the absentees; re- 
ceive and receipt for all moneys due and belonging to the 
Association, and pay same to Treasurer; issue all orders 
on the Treasurer, as approved by the Executive Commit- 
tee, for the payment of all bills; keep the accounts of the 
Association for all moneys, purchases, etc., passing 
through his hands; make a report to the Association at 
each regular meeting and such reports to the Executive 
Committee as it may require; attend to all correspon- 
dence, conferring with the Chairman of the Executive 
Committee; receive applications for membership, trans- 
mit them to the Executive Committee, and attend to all 
matters pertaining to his office. 

3. The Treasurer Avill be the custodian of the finances 
,of the Association, and will receive from the Secretary 
and receipt for all moneys due and belonging to the Asso- 
ciation; pay all bills on order of the SecretaiT Avhen a]> 

i])roved by Ilxeciitive Committee; keep an account of all 
moneys received or paid for the Association; make a re- 

18 



port to the Association at each r(\i>uhir meeting- of th<^ 
receipts and exi)en(litnres, and of tlie tinancial condition 
of the Association. 

4. Tlie services of its officers and Execnliv(^ Connnitlee 
shall be furnished jj^ratnitonsly to the Association. 

ARTICLE XIII. 
Appeals. 
A member expelled, or whose membership has been ter- 
minated by the action of the Executive Committee, shall 
have the right of appealing his case to the next annual 
meeting of the Association for its decision, upon giving 
notice to the Secretary of his intended action at least two 
weeks before such meeting. 

ARTICLE XI\ \ 

Interpretation. 
The interi3retation oT the by-laws and rules shall rest 
with the Executive Committee. 

ARTICLE XV. 
Parliamentary Rules. 
The deliberations of the Association shall be governed 
by Reed's Parliamentary Rules. 

ARTICLE XVJ. 
Amendments and Alterations. 
. Amendments to the by-laws may be made at any an- 
nual meeting of the Association, by a tAvo-thirds vote of 
the members present. 



19 



RULES 



OF THE 



American Public Works Association 



1. When State or Municipal Statutes cC'nfiict with Association 
rules, the latter shall be waived. 

2. When work is done on a percentage basis, security should be 
given to guarantee faithful performance of the work. 

3. Architects and engineers shall not bid on contract for work 
advertised to be let under their plans and specifications. 

4. No bids shall be asked until mc-ney to pay for the work has 
been provided. 

5. Bids shall be opened and read in public at the time specified 
for receiving bids. 

G. No bids shall be received after time specified. 

7. No bids shall be withdrawn after time set for opening bids. 

8. Illegibility or ambiguity shall invalidate a bid. 

0. Bidders shall not be permitted to change prices stated in bids. 

10. Bids shall state specifically, make of apparatus or machinery 
proposed, and same shall be specified in contract. 

11. When all bids are rejected, new bids shall not be received on 
the same specifications without readvertising. 

12. The amount of certified check required shall be stated in the 
advertisement calling for bids. 

1:5. l')id bonds may be substituted for certified checks. 

14. Checks or bid bonds shall be returned to all but the successful 
bidder as soon as award of contract is nvade, and to successful bidders 
as scon as contract is signed, accepted, and bond filed, if required. 

1.1. Award of contract shall be made within thirty days (.;U) days) 
after l)i(is have been opened, or checks returned to bidders. 

20 



l(i. lioiul shall not exceed twenty-five per cent. (2r>%) of contract 
price, unless otherwise provided by law. 

17. Twenty days shall bi' allowed contractor in which to furnish a 
satisfactory bond. 

IS. In event of discrepancies between the drawing and specifica- 
tions, decision of the engineer shall be final. 

IS). All instructions regarding work shall be given by the engineer. 

20. Extra work shall only be done cti \vritt(m order of the engineer. 

21. In deducting material or work not lequired, only the cost to 
the contractor shall be deducted. This applies to Lump Sum contracts 
only. 

22. Changes in construction shall nc-t be made to lessen quantities 
of material in transit, or in progress of manufacture, unless contractor 
be paid for all actual loss occasioned. 

23. AVhen a specific make of machinery or apparatus is specified 
in contract, same shall be furnished in accordance w'ith manufacturers' 
plans and specificatic-ns, subnritted with bid. 

24. Engineer or his authorized assistants shall at all times have 
access to the work and materials, for purpose of inspection, and have 
notice of concealed work before it is covered. 

25. In event of emergency work, ccoitractor shall notify engineer, 
and engineer shall furnish inspector. 

2G. When w^ork done in regular progress of the contract and ordered 
torn down for purpose of inspection, if found tc- be in accordance with 
the specifications, it shall be at the cost of contractee. 

27. Engineer shall give w^ritten notice to the contractor when work 
c-r material has been rejected, 

28. Monthly estimate shall be based on the contract price, and 
shall include all material delivered and accepted, and labor performed 
during previous months. 

29. Monthly estimates shall be made on or before the fifth day of 
each month, unless otherwise agreed upon. 

30. Not m'CTe than fifteen per cent. (1.3%), nor less than ten per 
cent. (10%) of monthly estimates shall be retained by contractee until 
w^ork is completed. 

31. Time shall be allowed contractor for delay caused by strikes, 
accidents, or other causes beyond his control. 

21 



32. When the work is completed, engineer shall accept or reject 
same in writing. 

33. Contractor is released from all future responsibility when con- 
tractee takes possession of plant, whether settlement has been made or 
not, unless otherwise agreed. 

34. When time guarantee has been agreed upon, a separate security 
shall be furnished. 

35. When work is accepted, percentage retained shall be paid in 
final settlement, and bond shall be released and returned. 

36. Arbitration shall be resorted to in all cases before applying to 
the courts. 

37. When nraterial is bought f. o: b. direct from manufacturer by 
the city, only five per cent. (5%) shall be retained, 

NOTE : In drawing up specifications, if engineers will insert, 
"All woek done under Rules of the American Public Works 
Association," it will not be necessary to print rules in full in speci- 
fications. 



22 



MEMBERS 



Who Attended The 



SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION 
AT ATLANTA 



H. H. Abee, Abee & Edwards Hickory, N. C. 

W. E. Austin, W. E. Austin & Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

James E. Brady, The John H. McGowan Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

C. A. Brown, Standard Underground Cable Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

A. J. Bowron, The Dimmick Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala. 

E. C. Butner, Piatt Iron Works Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

J. A. Brady, Bostrum Brady Mfg. Co., . . . , Atlanta, Ga. 

P. J. Casey, The Casey & Hedges Mfg. Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 

C. H. Campbell, Fabric Fire Hose Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

M. F. Cole, R. D. Cole Mfg. Co., Newnan, Ga. 

H. A. Coles, Westing-house Electric & Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

P. J. Crimmins, Herron Pump and Foundry Co., .... .Chattanooga, Tenn. 

N. Wilson Davis, C. E. , Harrisonburg, Va. 

Mark Dean, Central Foundry Co. , New York. 

Fair Dodd, Aetna Indemnity Co. , Atlanta, Ga. 

Ben. C. Fennel, lyombard Iron Works, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. H. FHnt, U. S. Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co., . . . Chattanooga, Tenn. 

E. H. Ginn, General Electric Co. , Atlanta, Ga. 

A. F. Giles, General Electric Co. , Atlanta, Ga. 

J. R. Gordon, Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

T. J. Halsey, The Fairbanks Co. , New Orleans, I^a. 

W. H. Harrison, Mfrs. Agt., Atlanta, Ga. 

P. O. Hebert, Eureka Fire Hose Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

N. B. Hudson, R. D. Cole Mfg. Co., Newnan, Ga. 

Richard C. Huston, C. E., Hattiesburg, Miss. 

W. E. Herring, Piatt Iron Works Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

P. A. Iv3% American Cast Iron Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala. 

W. R. Jennison, Ivane Bodley Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Adam W. Jones, International Pump Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

William B. King, George A. & Wm. B. King Washington, D. C. 

E. F. Kitson, Southern Contracting Co., Norfolk, Va. 

CM. Ivadd, Chicago Bridge & Iron Works, Chicago, 111. 

23 



Moise De Iveon, Contractor, Atlanta, Ga. 

J. W. lyeroux, Virginia Bridge & Iron Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Morgan lylewellyn, The Walsh & Weidner Boiler Co.,.. Chattanooga, Tenn. 

A. M. Ivockett, A. M. I^ockett & Co., New Orleans, Iva. 

W. C. Massey, Massey Reporting Co-, Atlanta, Ga. 

H. H. Meadows, The Babcock & Wilcox Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

A. J. Mitchell, Adams Bagnall Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

H. Clay Moore, Mfrs. Agt., Atlanta, Ga. 

J. H. Mueller, Atlas Kngine Works, Atlanta, Ga. 

J. B. McCrary, Engineer, Atlanta, Ga. 

D. B. McFadden, Austin Western Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

George McKay, The Iveadite Co. , Philadelphia, Pa. 

Chas. F. McKenzie, John H. McKenzie & Sons, Augusta, Ga. 

Howard Neely, Contractor, Chattanooga, Tenn. 

John W. Neil, The John H. McGowan Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Edward J. O'Beirne, Engineer, Atlanta, Ga. 

Ralph H. Parker, Southern Paving Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Arthur Pew, Engineer, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. M. Rapp, Engineer, Atlanta Water Works, Atlanta, Ga. 

E. G. Richardson, Good Roads Machinery Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Sol Romm, General Contracting Co. , Atlanta, Ga. 

J. T. Rose, Contractor, Atlanta, Ga. 

J. S. Slicer, Attorney, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. M. Stearns, Fort Wayne Electric Works., Atlanta, Ga. 

A. R. Sterner, General Electric Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

James Sloan, Southern Sewer Pipe Co. , Birmingham, Ala. 

Geo. O. Tenney. Engineer, Spartanburg, S. C. 

Maurice W. Thomas, Allis Chalmers Co-, Atlanta, Ga. 

M. C. Vandiver, Contractor, , Atlanta, Ga. 

J. F. Vickery, Mfrs. Agt. , Atlanta. Ga. 

Geo. O. Watson, Watson Flagg Engineering Co., New York. 

G. E. Watts, G. E. Watts Company, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. F. Wilcox, Engineer, Meridian, Miss. 

Chas. C. Wilson, Engineer. , Columbia, S. C. 

H. D. Winn, Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

Park Woodward, Atlanta, Waterworks, Atlanta, Ga. 



24 










^ , . ^'' 



mf 



4," 



1 C-H-LACi- 







)vv.j. 0]i^i^^^- 



mm^ 




.5WTho^:a5 








/^ ^% 



EX ECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



PROCEEDINGS 

OF THE 

American Public Works Association 

AT THE 
SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION. 



FIRST DAY'S PEOCEEDIXGS. 

Hotel Amgoii, Atlanta, Ga., Sept. litli, IIIOO. 

The Couventiou met and was called to order by K. 
C. Huston, Vice-President, at 10:30 a. m. 

The Chairman: We will have a few remarks from Mr. 
Slicer, who will introduce Hon. Jas. G. Woodward, Mayor 
of Atlanta. 

Mr. Slicer: Mr. Chainnan and gentlemen of the Asso- 
ciation, in the absence of the President, which Avill b:^ 
referred to later, this honor has been conferred upon me. 
Allien one of our members and my good friend suggested 
that I become a member of the American Public Works 
Association, I told him I did not think a lawyer would 
be allowed in anything like that, but he insisted that any- 
body who had a genuine interest in the purposes for 
which this organization was formerl could become a mem- 
ber, and after he explained to me what the purposes 
were, I deemed it a great honor to be asked and allowed 
to become a member of this organization which has been 
organized for the purpose of promoting absolute integ- 
rity, honesty and fairness, in the letting of. all public 
contracts in the Ignited States. 

When you realize how much money is spent eA^ery year 
by our National Goyernment, by our States and by our 

25 



Cities, in public works, and in improvements and bettev- 
ments, you can tlien realize wJiat a vast deal of good an 
organization of this kind can do, and especially when we 
hear so much nowadays about the graft among insurance 
companies and the management of railroads, in the large 
municipal contracts and, in fact, in every line of busi- 
ness, it is especially gratifjdng to know that men who 
compose this Association — such a high class of men — 
have gotten together for the purpose of forming this 
organization. 

In our little city here we let a few public contracts 
once in a while. I think it has only been a short time 
ago when some representative of the United States 
G^overnment came here and looked over the City's books, 
and stated that Atlanta put more money, that is, a larger 
per cent., in permanent improvements than any other 
city in the State. 

Now, gentlemen, there is no man in the city of Atlan- 
ta who has had so much to do with the letting of these 
public contracts — I don't believe there are any five men 
who have had so much to do with it — as the gentleman 
from whom we have the honor of receiving our Avelcome 
today. He has been in the City Government, in the 
aldermanic board, and as Mayor of the city twice, and 
has, I think, given his services to the city for over fifteen 
years. While he has been connected with the council, 
and as Mayor, he has been chairman of the committee 
that built our police barracks. It was through his in- 
fluence and efforts that we have today the greatest im- 
provenK^iit that this city lias ever made, and Ihat is tlie 
Wliitehall street viaduct. During the iViist two years 
two very flue city schools have been built under his 
supervision. He Avas on a committee that had a great 
(leal to (h) with chaiigii)g tlu^ lighting of the city froui 
gas to ehM'tric lights. AVhih* ho was connected with the 
conncil th(^ motive iK)wer of th(^ street I'ailway has been 

26 



chanucd froni iniilrs and liorscs lo clcctiic ])()\\'('i*. I 
know of no nian wlio is more littiiij^" to wolcome ns today 
than oni* i)resont Mayor, and then, gentlemen, h(^ has 
always been a friend to the mechanic, the contractor, 
and the en<>ineer, in connection Avitli these contracts, 
looking- ont for tlie cit3^'s interest, bnt alwa^^s seeing 
that they had jnstice and fairness done them; and.it is 
with great pleasure tluit I introduce to you Honorable 
James G. Woodward, Mayor of Atlanta. (Applause). 

Mayor Woodward: Gentlemen of the Public Works 
Convention — It is with pleasure that I greet you and wel- 
come you to our vity. I must tliank my friend, Slicer, 
for the compliments lie has passed upon me. It is true, 
I have been connected with the cit}^ government more 
than any man in the histoiw of the city, that is, in a pub- 
lic way, other than the municipal officers. It is true I 
have been there throirgh some of the most trying times 
in the growth of our city, and the points that he has 
named will certainly convince any reasonable man that 
these changes from the old day to the present have been 
of great benefit to the community. 

We have a great many public contracts; all do not go 
to the extent, possibly of those that Mr. Slicer has men- 
tioned, but many, such as street leaving and the con- 
struction of a sewer system, are now being extended. 
There is nothing that is of greater benefit than a projier 
sewer system. There has been a great deal done here 
in the past fifteen years in the way of sewer construc- 
tion. We also have had a great change in our Water 
Works system. I'^p to about the year 1889 the water 
woiks i)lant was in the Southern part of the city, out 
about four miles. A few years later we established a 
new plant out on the Chattahoochee river. You can read- 
ily understand that this was not only a large but a most 
difficult task. The two plants being upon opposite sides 
of the city necessitated the change from large pipes to 

27 



small U13011 one side, and small pipes to large upon the 
other, so we have had to change our entire water works 
system in the last fifteen years. 

You can look around 3^ou and see what a city this is. It 
is a modern built ijlace. It was my pleasure to know it 
since 1852. Thirty-five or forty years ago there was 
nothing here. You all remember our friend Sherman 
Xjassed through here. He left us a splendid site to build 
a city on, and that is all he did leave. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) And the present time will show 3^ou whether 
we have made good use of the site. You may say At- 
lanta is a new city, and the main part of it has been 
built within the last ten years, and a great deal within 
the last Aye or six years. The greater part of these of- 
fice buildings you see here have been built within the 
last six years, so you can see what a city you have come 
to, and it appears to me that men, in your line of busi- 
ness, while you are not in New York quite, you are mighty 
near it. As far as we have got it is as good, and you 
can go ahead along any line of contracting here that you 
wish and find something that will interest you, so I am 
happy to greet you and welcome you to a city of that 
kind, and hope that your stay with us will be more than 
pleasant. If there is anything here joii want that you 
do not see, ask somebody, and you will find it. I just 
want to say the city is wide open; the keys are thrown 
away. Enjoy yourselves while you are here. We ki^ow 
that some of you are traveling men and will represent us 
at other places. We want you to come with us often and 
want to say to you that you are welcome to the biggest 
town in the South, and it is the only one that is built up 
strictly on its own merit. I have been hcn^e through its 
whole life, and I often stand and wonder what is the 
cause of its growtli. We liave not enough houses to 
hold the people; certain houses that have Ixmmi coii- 
(leiiined by an incoming railroad Avilli which l am con- 



nucted, the A. J^. & A., being on the ri<^ht of Avay, have 
been re-iented by the former tenants for a single monlii 
onh'. They know they cannot stay in liiem, but it is 
extreni(4y dillienlt to find houses for their aec;)nnno;la- 
tion. 

1 will be glad to supply you with, paniplilets showing the 
different uiauufacturiug establislinients that the city 
has, numbering something like three hundred, the most 
of which are small. It is the small manufacturers that 
help a cit}', I believe, rather thau the very large ones. 
We have a large quantity of industries scattered all over 
the city, but the smaller ones, emplo^^ug from five to 
tAveut}-^ men, are the ones to which I attribute principal- 
ly the growth of this city. Three hundred of these to 
a i)()pulatiou of apf>roxiniately one hundred and twenty- 
iixe thousand inhabitants, is, I think, a large proportion, 
and si)eaks well for our city. I do not know how long this 
Avonderful growth will last in this inland city, but I will 
say that whenever you take a notion to come and liA^e 
here, Ave invite you to come and stay with us in the best 
place on earth. We hope that on your return journey 
eA'erything Avill be pleasant, and that you Avill reach 
your homes safely, and that those you haA^e left behind 
Avill be found Avell and happy. (Applause). 

Mr. Dodd: Mr. Chairman, inasmuch as the Chief Ex- 
ecutive of this city has given us such an interesitng talk 
and such a hearty welcome, I move Ave extend to him a 
rising vote of thanks for this kindness and courtesy on 
his part. 

The motion Avas unanimously adopted. 

Mayor WoodAvard: I thank you very much, gentle- 
men. Xow, gentlemen, I am a little behind time. I am 
due at my office at ten o'clock, and I hojie you will ex- 
cuse me for the rest of the meeting. I Avill be pleased 
at any time to havi^ any of you call at my office. If there 

29 



is anytliing' I can do for 3^ou while you are in the city, 
let me know what it is, and don't be afraid to ask. {Ap- 
Ijlause). 

PRESIDEiNT'S ADDKESS. 

Yice-President Hnston : 
Gentlemen of the American Public Works Association — 

Owing to the regretable illness of our President, the 
duty involves upon me of making the President's ad- 
dress. President Omberg is ill at Mamoroneck, N. Y., 
and I know the best wishes of all members go out to him 
for a speedy recovery, and I think it would be proper to 
telegraph to him an expression of our sympathy and 
good wishes. 

The Association has now about two hundred members, 
and we are to be congratulated on its rapid growth. We 
have a, broad field, and can accomplish great good by 
harmoniously working together for the good of all mem- 
bers and the public at large, whose interests we rep- 
resent. 

Our Association will, in a few j^ears, we hope, have as 
large a membership in the North as we now have in the 
South. 

With this object in view, we must look forward and 
plan for the future. There is no organization of a like 
character in existence. Your Association represents the 
practical element, or what may be called the business 
element, in engineering and the construction of public 
works. As our Association increases in membership, it 
will naturally divide into three branches, viz.: manufac- 
turirjg, engineering, and contracting. Each branch or 
section can, and necessarily will, Avlien the membership 
exceeds one thousand members, meet in separate rooms 
and discuss the i)articular questions most aff(M'ting its 
iutei'ests, and uftov deciding on a definit(^ course of ac- 
tion, Itring tlie nnitter Ix^fore th(^ Association, whicli will 
ex|)edile business and ])r()ve ol' i^i-eat value. 

30 



ll may, tlu'refoit^, be wise lu look forward lo the oiiian- 
iziii^' of subsidiary branclu^s to represent llie iiiaimfa<- 
tiiriiiii, (MiuiiK criiiii and contract ini; interests. 

Tills Association is the oidy organization that lias un- 
dertaken the inii)rovenient of conditions in connection 
with public lettiniis, and there is plenty of room for work 
in this direction. 

1 would call your attention in this connection to the 
fact that there are no regulations in our by-laws requir- 
ing- membeis to observe the rules adopted by the Asso- 
ciation. 

I declare the Convention now open for the transaction 
of business, and the hrst btisiness in order is the report 
of the Secretary. (Applause.) 

{SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen — 

Your Secretary has but little to report concerning the 
progress of the work of the Association since the organiza- 
tion at Culfport, August 26-27, 1904. 

Some of the contractors, engineers and material men 
have given close attention to the rules adopted, but not 
as many of them as we would like to see become enthused 
in the work and adoption of the rules in the transaction 
of lettings of contracts. There is some excuse for this 
lukewarmness in the fact that we were prevented from 
holding onr annual meeting at Chattanooga, Atig. 31st, 
1905, which threw a damper over the interest of the mem- 
bers generally. The meeting at Chattanooga was care 
fully worked up, and w^e expected much benefit to ensue 
from it. I^nfortunately at that time the Ainiy of the 
Stig-omia Fasciata invaded the gulf coast and the mos- 
quito fleet attacked the port of Xew Orleans, Avliere 
many of our members reside, and the quarantine held 
them for a while; however, it is said they distinguished 
themselves in the volunteer service, nailing down hatcdies 

31 



with mosquito bars, pouring oil on rnudd}^ waters, and 
spraying the marsh. One Lncien Glenny, captain of the 
Boll Weavil Guards, was breveted on the field for brav- 
er}^; and Henry Malochee led the midnight attack on the 
oyster beds of Bayou LaFourche — it is claimed the shells 
lay around so thick they'd cut your feet. 

This is the first time we have met since the organiza- 
tion, tw^o 3^ears ago. In that time your Secretary has 
paid his attention to increasing the membership and 
dodging many pertinent inquiries. One member from 
Missouri wanted me to show him results. Results can 
onl}' come from members' personal familiarity Avith the 
rules and their adoption in their work, and all of us pull- 
ing together for better business and the manner of con- 
ducting the same. The oflicers can only manage the 
Association according to the rules prescribed for its man- 
agement and urge the adoption of the rules hj its mem- 
bers and their co-operation in the work of the Associa- 
tion. All matters of au}^ importance that have come up 
have been referred to vour executive committee and have 
been handled by them. Your Secretarj^ and Target is 
always glad to hear from the members, be it of criti- 
cism, commendation or the payment of dues; and he 
begs you to remember the last named item, for it has 
been necessary in some cases to send more than one 
notice. 

One hundred and forty-eight members have qualified, 
and about forty are yet to be heard from. I feel sure 
after this good meeting they will respond. 

The services of tlie Secretary have been cheerfully and 
willingly contributed; lack of time for such services, liow- 
ever, makes liim feel that the Association may soon de- 
cide to scM'ui'e a Secrc^tary wlio couhl give all of bis time 
1o (li(» woj'k. 



September 12l]i, l!l()i;. 

Coll(M-ti()iis from 14S members — fees S411.(K) 

dues l.<^0 



1412.00 



Paid into Treasurer — 

Ck. Xo. 2 Oct. 25, 1904 . . . .| 35.00 

Ok. Xo. 3 Nov. 1(), 1904 32.00 

Ck. No. 4 Dec. 5, 1905 .... 24.00 

Ck. No. () Mcli. 30, 1905 91.00 

Ck. No. "7 Sept. 13, 190G . . . 172.00 

Aug. 27, 1904, col. retained by Tr. 58.00 |412.00 



I>ills approved by Secretary for pa3mient by Treasurer — 

Dec. 3, 1904, Postage and printing | 50.15 

Dec. 29, 1905, Postage and -printing 51.78 



1101.93 

Respectfully, 

Wni. 11. FLINT, Secretary. 
(Applause). 

Tpon motion the report of the Secretary Avas received 
with thanks. 

Mr. Crimmins: I move that the Association instruct 
the Secretary to telegraph President Omberg, to show 
our remembrance of his illness, and conveying our hopes 
for his speedy recovery. 

The motion was seconded by Mr. Thomas, and adopted 
unanimously. 

The next business in order was the report of the Treas- 
urer, but owing to his absence, and the information that 
he Avas on his Avay and Avould arrive soon, the rex)ort Avas 
deferred until the second day. 

The Chairman: The next order of business is the re- 
port of the Executive Committee. 

33 



EEPOKT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Mr. O'Beiriie: Your Executive Committee is unable 
to make a report of tlie finances of the Association, ow- 
ing to the absence of Treasurer Malochee. 

Since our organization meeting at Grulfport, Augiist 
26th, 1904, more than two years have passed, and our 
Association is now entering upon the third year of its 
existence. 

We adopted at tliat meeting a set of laws and rules to 
guide our members, and after a trial of two years but 
few complaints have been heard against the rules, which 
are every day growing in general favor. It is hoped by 
your Executive Committee that the same conservative 
spirit which characterized the Gulfport meeting will be 
shown in your deliberations here. 

Our by-laws are in general satisfactory^, but your Exe- 
cutive Committee would ask that joii consider the fol- 
lowing changes in same: 

1st. That the second jjaragraph in Article I, of the by- 
laws be changed so as to read as follows: "Its objects 
are to standardize general specifications in engineering 
and architectural contracts, and to make rules for and 
encourage the construction of public works, and to 
encourage papers, suggestions and deliberations by its 
members, for the improvement thereof." 

2nd. That Section 5, Article lY of the by-laws be struck 
out. 

3r(l. That Sections 9 and 14, Article lY, of the by-laws be 
struck out. 

4tb. That Section 5 of Artich^ Y of the by-hnvs ho struck 
out. 

r)th. Tliat the word "three" in Section 1, Article VIl, be 
struck out aud the Avord "five" inserted in its ])la(*e; and 
tlie word "one" iu Section 2, Arti(d(^ AMI, be sli-uck oul 
tlie word "iwo" iusertc^d in its slead. 

Our rules liav(* atd'acted cousicU'rahle favorabh^ public 

34 



conuiu-nt, and wliih' cliaiij^es inav be siiii^cstcd bv inoin- 
bers to the ( 'oinniittcH' on l\ules, your Kxecutivo Com- 
mittee reconnnends: 

()tli. Tliat Kiile No. 2{) be (•haii<;e(l so as to read as fol- 
loAVs: ''Extra work sliall only b(^ don(^ on written oiib^r 
of tlie engineer." 

Tth. I'hat the word ''ten" in rnh^ No. 80 be struck out 
ami the word ''lil'teen" be inserted in its place. 

Stli. That the Avord "ten" in rule No. 34 be struck out 
and the word "tifteen" be inserted in its place. 

Dtli. That all words after the word "returned" in Kule 
Xo. 34 be struck out. 
34 be changed to "fifteen." 

Our members are busy men, and we realize that thev 
can give but a limited time to the advancement of their 
Association; and we hope the da}^ is not far distant when 
we can secure the services of a paid Secretary who will 
devote his entire time to the interests of the Association. 
The services of our officers are voluntary, and they, par- 
ticularly the Secretary, have been more generous than 
we have a right to expect. 

We had sixty-fotir names to the call for our organiza- 
tion meeting, and forty-nine attended. Our membership 
has increased quietly and without noise to one hundred 
and ninety-one. People interested in public works have 
only to be told the objects of this Association to obtain 
their application for membership. Your Executive Com- 
mittee believes that the American Public AA'orks Associa- 
tion is destined to grow into a large and useful national 
body. It believes that the day is not far distant Avhen it 
will be quoted as the authority on all rules pertaining to 
the construction of public works and contract work in 
particular. 

In reference to our rules, there are no regulations in 
our by-laws requiring members to observe the rules 
adopted by our Association. This question was carefully 

35 



considered at our last meeting, and it was decided to 
leaye the matter open nntil this meeting. In line with 
this conservative conrse previously adoj)ted, your Execu- 
tive Committee would recommend that all members 
adopt the rules to the fullest extent possible, but tluit 
action making the observance of the rules obligatory on 
all members be iDostponed, as we believe that the rules 
will eventually become recognized on their own merits. 
We would, however, ask that all members look with dis- 
favor on violations of the rules, and give them the most 
favorable support. 

We would also recommend that all members of this 
Association print across the top of their letter heads the 
following: "All work done under the rules of the Ameri- 
can Public Works Association." 

W^e further recommend that the b^^-laws be so amended 
as to allow of three Vice-Presidents for the Association. 

EespectfuUy submitted, 
THE EXEiOUTIVE COMMITTEE, 

Edward J. O'Beirne, Chairman. 

The Ohairman: Gentlemen, you have heard the report 
of the Executive Committee and the changes suggested. 
Wliat will 3^ou do with it? 

Mr. Butner: Mr. Chairman, I move that the report be 
adopted and that part regarding changes in the rules be 
referred to the Committee on Kules. 

The motion was adopted. 

Mr. Crimmins: Mr. Chairman, is there any reason why 
we should not take u]) the suggestion as to by-lnvs at 
tliis time? 

The Chairman: I do not tliink so. 

A member: T move that the recomnuMidations iii re- 
gai'd 1o by-laws b(^ 1ak(Mi u]), oue by one, at this time. 

Action u])()ii this motiou was dc^fiMTcMl uulil (he u im:'S 
of the members ])i'es(MH coiihl be oblained. 

36 



The Cliairiuan: All Avho liavc any motions to make, or 
remarks of any kind, are reijuested, as soon as yon arise 
and address the ehair, to call yonr name, beeanse I am 
not familiar Avith all the names of the members, and 1 
■svonld like to have yon do that, as Ave cannot ,uet them in 
the record an}' other Avay. 

Reporter's Note. — This recinest Avas disrej^arded, and 
the members being- total strangers to the reporter, it is, 
of conrse, impossible for him to give the names of speak- 
ers, except as he learns them from hearing them called 
dnring the proceedings. 

The Chairman: While A^'e are Avaiting, an'c Avill luiA^e a 
paper on ^'The Merits of Leadite," by Mr. George McKay, 
of rhiladelphia. 

Mr. McKay: 

Leadite, an economical composition for pipe joints. 

Leadite is, as its name A^^onld imi^ly, a snbstitute for 
lead for canlking A^'ater mains, gas mains, soil pipes, 
seA^'er pipes, etc. Leadite is a composition of mineral 
ingredients, suitable for making the strongest and most 
enduring joint knoA\'n at the present time. These ingre- 
dients are very finely ground, thoroughly mixed, and so 
proportioned that no difference can possibly exist in any 
quantity. Each ingredient is A\'eighed exactly for each 
batch before mixing. The process of manufacture de- 
mands great care to get the best results. The inventor 
has made many tests in the past fourteen years, being 
A^ery much interested in some of the excarations of ;\n- 
cient Pompeii, AAiiere a material very similar to Leaditt 
AA'as used by tlie ancients, AA^hich had a Avonderful sticking 
and tensile strength and A\\as used for jointing almost 
eA'erything. Ornamental castings and figures A\^ere made, 
A\iiich haA'e stood the test of ages and are perfect to-day. 
Rust and decay seem to have no effect on this material. 

Leadite A^'as tested by the Water Department of Phila- 
delphia in A'arious A\'ays before it A\'as put into practical 

37 



use in making joints on water mains in service. One test 
was made to jar the joint by allowing two pieces of extra 
heavy 6-incli pipe, each 5 feet long, joined by Leadite, to 
drop 8 feet on a log, then to drop on the reverse side. 
When water i>ressure was applied this joint stood dry at 
130 pounds pressure to the square inch. A freezing test 
was also tried. TWo lines of 6-incli pipe, 98 feet long; 
one line was jointed with Leadite, the other with lead. 
These two lines were filled with water and allowed to 
freeze over night. The lead line parted in the middle; 
the Leadite joints were all perfect in the morning, but 
the plug was cut in half and blown out — the other half 
was intact. 

Having satisfied the engineers in charge of these tests, 
it was decided to lay some pipe of all sizes with Leadite 
joints to test its durability. About four miles of water 
mains were laid, which were examined several times to 
find if there were ruj leaks. Not one leak was ever found 
on this work. Now twelve years in service. 

Various other tests have been made where lead had 
failed to hold. Leadite has been successfull}^ used. It 
has been demonstrated again and again that a Leadite 
joint, when properly cast, cannot be blown out by water 
pressure; it will stand as long as the pipe will stand. No 
doubt it will leak for a little while under a heavy pres- 
sure, but will in every case get tight and remain tight. 
A line of 4-incli pipe, 100 feet long, made May, 1905, by 
an inexperienced hand, is now in the water works yard 
at Twenty-sixth and Master streets, Philadelphia, ex- 
])()S(m1 to all kinds of weather. This line has b( hmi trsted 
lately to 300 i)()ini(1s i)ressiire to the scpiare inch, shoAV- 
ing that expansion and contraction have not injnved the 
joints. 

Leadite wIkmi melliMl in block AV(Mghs about IIS ])ounds 
per cnbic fool. Tliis is jnsi one-sixlli lln^ Aveight of l(Md 
- 70S |)onn(ls, so il is easy lo see (ha( on(^ ton of I.eadile 

38 



will make as many joints as live Ions of lead. Lcadile 
ueeds no caulkinii, as it takes a giant grip on tlie pipe. 
This is a very inii)ortant item in the use of Leadire, as 
caulking adds from 15 to 20 per cent, to the cost of lead 
joints. J.ead joints are at their best when newly cast and 
caulked. J.eadite joints are much stronger after being a 
year in service. 

James C. Bayles, M. E., Ph. D., in his report on leakage 
of water mains distributing through cast iron pipes with 
hub and spigot joints, caulked with lead, says: "Very 
few ])ublic water Avorks which have been more than one 
year in operation deliver at jjoiuts of known use or Avaste 
tifty per cent, of the Avater AAiiich enter their mains. In 
my judgment the average leakage is from sixty to sixty- 
six per cent. ; in neglected systems it is often much more." 

Sir Frederick BramAvell prepared a report for the 
British Institution of Qi\il Engineers, showing the Avaste 
of water in undergTOund leakage from mains in more 
than one hundred British cities and towms. His diagram 
slioAvs that of every three gallons measured into the 
mains tAvo are lost by leakage underground and one is 
used or w^asted as may be. 

Sir William Hope, C. E., an eminent British water 
AA'orks engineer, in his paper read before the Institute of 
CiAil Engineers, says : "Even now^ a majority of the water 
undertakings of this country lose by leakage more than 
one-half of the total quantity of w^ater supplied from the 
source. The proportion is often higher." 

From these statements of expert engineers we can 
easily see the importance of getting something better 
than lead for making joints on AAater mains, etc. We 
claim that Leadite wiien properly poured in the joint will 
make a permanent w^atertight joint that will never leak 
after being in service a few^ days under any pressure us- 
ual in AA^ater w^orks constniction. This claim may seem 
too strong, as many noATly-made joints aa^II leak at less 

39 



than one linnclred j)ounds pressure, but wlien the water 
is turned on these joints will begin to close up or get 
tight and in a few days at most will be perfectly tight 
and remain so. 

The principal causes of leakage in lead joints are (for 
either water or gas mains) first, exj)ansion and contrac- 
tion, unequal settlement, impairment by oxidation and 
electrolysis, jar, shock and vibration. 

Expansion and contraction are constant. Pipes in the 
ground are never at rest, but lengthen and shorten with 
each variation of temperature. This movement is slight, 
rarely exceeding two inches in a thousand feet through 
the course of a year, but it is irresistible. About eighty 
per cent, of leakage is attributable to^ expansion and con- 
traction. Leadite joints, as shown by line of pipe exposed 
to heat and cold, now 15 months (before referred to), are 
not affected, but stand 260 pounds more pressure than 
when first made. 

Unequal settlement, which cause lead joints to give 
way and leak. Leadite joints have been thoroughly tested 
on this line by removing the blocking from under a line 
of pipe, except the blocking at each end, allowing the 
line of 98 feet to sink two feet in the centre, without 
causing a leak when one hundred pounds pressure was on 
this line. Oxidation and electrolysis, which eat out lead 
joints, have no effect on Leadite whatever. 

Jar, shock and vibration. On these points we have 
amply tested Leadite joints, as before stated. We also 
made a test on the line of pipe now at Twenty-sixth and 
Master streets water works yard by striking the bonnet 
on tlie end of line with a heavy sledge ten times, trying 
to knock it off. This was considered a very severe test, 
as this line noAV stands a ])ressnre of o()() ])()nn(ls to the 
square inch. 

Leadite is shii)ped in ])owder form in l)arrels and bags 
— ^^300 and 3r)0-p()nnd barrels and lOO-ponnd bags. Bags 

40 



are charged until returned in <>ood order and fi*eit»lit pre- 
paid. 

Leadite is melted and poured just the same as lead. 
Only about 400 degrees of heat is needed to melt Leadite. 
^^'e recommend a gasoline furnace for this purpose, as 
the heat is more ejisily regulated than a coke furnnce. 
Leadite recpiires to be kept stirred when it begins to melt 
and until it is as liquid as oil and until the foamor froth 
dies oft* — then it is ready for pouring. 

As Leadite is only one-sixth the weight of lead, a gate 
or cup three inches higher than be^' of pipe should be 
made of pipe chn', so that the top of joint may be well 
tilled with Leadite. This pouring gate can be knocked off 
Avhen the Leadite is perfectly chilled, and can be remelt- 
ed, so there is no waste of material. Should the Leadite 
when melting get overheated it will get stiff and will not 
pour freely. Eenioye the heat and keep mixing or stir- 
ring a little while and it will become quite liquid again. 
Should any part of joint be missed in the pouring, a patch 
can be made which will hold good by making a pouring 
gate at the place. When pouring joints keep the pour- 
ing gate full so long as it will take any. This will insure 
a perfect joint, and pour as quickh^ as possible, especialh^ 
on large pipes. We j)our 30-incli joints with one gate, 
but would recommend using two gates on larger pipe — - 
one on each side, to be i)oured simultaneously ; then one 
gate on top. 

In concluding this article ou the merits of Leadite, one 
item of special interest which must not be overlooked is 
its comparative cost with lead. Lead at six cents per 
pound, or |120 per ton, or |G00 for five tons, will make 
just as many joints as one ton of Leadite at teri c^uits 
per pound, or f200 per ton, just one-third the cost, and 
no caulking charges, no leaking joints in after years. 
Leadite when purchased in car load lots, eight cents per 
pound, so that adding caulking charges to the price of 

41 



lead, a saving of nearly four to one would be realized in 
favor of Leadite. 

GEOKGE McKAY. 
642 Heed Building, 1215 Filbert Street, PMladelpbia, 
Pensylvania. 

The Cliairman: You have listened to a very important 
paper. From sixty to eighty per cent, of water used in 
the United States is wasted, and I think, if any one is 
interested in the subject of water w^orks, it w^ould be of 
importance for him to get up and discuss it with Mr. 
McKay. 

Mr. McKay: I will give any information you wish. 
We have about one hundred copies of this paper, which 
anybody may have, and we would be very glad to have 
any inquiries and answer any questions. This test of 360 
pounds was made some time ago. On the first of this 
month we put on pressure (since I wrote this paper). It 
is perfectly true and fast at one thousand pounds pres- 
sure. We struck the bonnet on the end of the line with a 
sledge eight times trying to knock it off. It makes the 
most wonderful joint I know of. I didn't believe it my- 
self until we tried it. 

A member: Does it make a good joint for gas pipe? 

Mr. McKay: I should think so. A gas company in 
New York tried it. Of course we sell it more to water 
works than gas companies. I could not speak so strong- 
ly about gas, I think, because we have not had any 
opportunities to test it, but I know this company I speak 
of is using it. 

Mr. Tenney: : I would like to ask Mr. McKay if he lias 
any actual figures of the loss of water or any other dis- 
tributive system where joints are made of Leadite. 

Mr. McKay: We have given a guarantee of ten thou- 
sand dollars. We have never been able to find one leak 
in four miles of piping pnt in in 1801. I have examined it 

42 



about four times myself in different places. We liav<? 
tAvo kinds of books here, and I can distribute both of 
them. They Avill give you a considerable number of peo- 
ple using it; one company using about thirty-five tons. 
There is no caulking charge at all. In Philadelphia caulk- 
ers' wages are |2.50 a day; in New York City the wages 
paid are |3.50 a da}', adding about fifteen per cent, to 
the cost of lead joints. 

The Chairman: The Secretary will read the appoint- 
ments for the various committees. 

The Secretary: The Committee on Eules is as follows: 
George O. Tenney, Chas. C. Wilson, N. Wilson Davis, J. E. 
Brady, ^laurice W. Thomas, Adam Jones, Chas. F. Mc- 
Kenzie. 

The Committee on Finance: M. F. Cole, A. J. Bowron, 
W. F. Wilcox, John W. Xeil, H. J. Malochee. 

The Committee on By-Laws — Wm. B. King, J. S. Sli- 
cer, Fair Dodd. 

The Committee on MembershiiD — Morgan Llewellyn, P. 
J. Crimmins, E. C. Butner. 

The Committee on Standardization: W. II. Hume, X 
B. Hudson, T. J. Halsey. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I move that the Committee on Member- 
ship be asked to report the first thing in the afternoon, 
when we convene at two o'clock. The motion was sec- 
onded and carried. 

Mr. Thomas: I move that the Committee on By-Laws, 
Eules, and Finance, report at ten o'clock to-morrow 
morning. The motion was seconded and carried. 

On motion of Mr. Slicer, the Convention adjourned un- 
til two o'clock. 

AFTERNOO:^ SESSION, FIRST DAY. 

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 
2:30 p. m., there being considerable delay on account of 
the committees not being ready to report. 

43 



Tlie report of the Committee on Rules was, upon mo- 
tion, deferred until the second day. 

The Chairman: The next business will be a paper on 
"Surety Bonds" from Mr. Fair Dodd, of Atlanta. 

SURETY BONDS. 

Mr. Dodd: 
Mr. President and Members of the American Public 
Association — 

Being asked to read a paper before this Association is 
a privilege I did not expect, a compliment I did not de- 
serve; but in as much as I represent a factor or interest 
that is friendly to the members of this association, I 
trust you will bear with me, even" though I do not enter- 
tain you as you deserve. 

• I say I represent an interest that is friendl}' to you, 
because the Surety Company is friendly to the Contrac- 
tor, for it qualifies him for undertaking the work under 
his contract and stimulates his credit. It is friendly to 
the Architect or Engineer, for it guarantees that his 
plans, drawings, and specifications will be complied with 
by the Contractor, and furthermore agrees to hold his 
client, the owner, harmless and free from loss. It is 
friendly to the Manufacturer or Material Man, for it 
offers him an additional guarantee to the security of the 
Contractor. 

Surety Companies are especially friendly to the aims 
and objects of this Association and stand ready tO' do 
anything they can to foster and assist in the promulga- 
tion of its purposes. It is clearly the object of this Asso- 
ciation to put the letting and tlie execution of contracts 
for public improvements on a better, fairer, and more 
reasonable basis, and to encourage fair competition by 
eliminating all unreliable parties, and eradicating all 
pernicious practices. In the accomiilishmeiit of this gen- 
eral ])ui*i)os(* of this Association, the Surety Company may 

44 



bo iis(h1, and indeed lias Ikmmi used, as one of the most 
effective iiistriimeii tali ties. 

Surety Bonds are interesting to this body only in so 
far as they have to do with contracts for public imi)ro\'e- 
ments. I therefore, need only refer to three classics of 
Surety Bonds; nanieh', Bid or Proposal Bonds, Contract 
Bonds, and Maintenance Bonds. 

By Bid or Proposal Bonds, we mean bonds which guar- 
antee that if the work be awarded to our principal he will 
sign the contract, assume it, and file satisfactory bond 
for the faithful performance of the Avork thereunder. A 
letter from a General Agent of a Surety Company to the 
effect that he stands ready to execute a contract bond in 
the event the work is awarded to a certain party, is not 
a Bid Bond, and should not be accepted by Engineers and 
Architects as such. A Bid or Proposal Bond is a bond 
drawn in the usual form with a fixed penalty expressed as 
the limit of liability in the event of the default of the 
principal to comi)ly mth the terms of agreement asking 
for bids. It is our opinion that Bid Bonds should be 
accepted in lieu of certified checks, and even be preferred, 
for the primary reason that they are better evidence of 
the responsibility of the bidder. Am^ bidder who will de- 
posit as collateral with a bank the amount in cash for 
which he desires certified check can always procure the 
check. The bank, of course, takes no risk in issuing it, 
although it may know nothing whatever about the 
responsibility of the bidder. The amount deposited may 
represent the entire financial strength and credit of the 
bidder. The bank asks no questions. It is sufficient for it 
to know that the amount deposited will hold it harmless. 
But if a bidder applies to a Surety Company for a Bid or 
Proposal Bond, he must satisfy the Company that his 
moral responsibility is such as to warrant the issuance 
of the bond; that he is sufficiently experienced in the par- 
ticular line of work which he proposes to undertake to 

45 



make an intelligent bid; tliat his financial standing is 
sucli that, if the work is awarded to him, he will be able 
to prosecute it to a snccessfnl completion„ I, therefore, 
say that a Bid Bond is a more satisfactory guarantee of 
the responsibility of the bidder. Some Architects and 
Engineers contend that certified checks are preferable, 
alleging that they can realize more fully and more 
promptly on checks than on bonds ; but this is a mistake. 
In law they can only collect the amount of actual dam- 
age in any event; and the Surety Companies are just as 
strong financial institutions as banks, and a great deal 
stronger than most banks issuing certified checks on 
these occasions. Moreover, so-called certified checks fur- 
nish opportunity for shrewd practices by unscrupulous 
bidders. The certificate, in the first place, may not have 
been signed by any officer of the bank. The form of en- 
dorsement may frequently prevent collection. The certifi- 
cate never bears the corporate seal of the bank on which 
the check is issued by which its genuineness may be deter- 
mined. Indeed, so great is the opportunity for fraud, 
that the check may have issued on a bank which is no 
longer in existence. 

Now, as to Contract Bonds: Contract Bonds, as we all 
know, are to guarantee the faithful performance of the 
contract in accordance with plans and specifications pre- 
pared for the work. These Contract Bonds are made a 
part of the contracts, and in this way the Surety Com- 
pany is indirectly, if not directly, a party to the contract. 
Therefore, in executing Contract Bonds, the most impor- 
tant matters which we have to consider are the amount 
the contractor is to receive for his work, the time he is 
allowed in which to do the Avork, and tlie general terms 
of the contract. We want to believe that he is getting a 
fair and adequate price for the Avork he proposes to un- 
dertake, that lie has a reasonable time in which to do tlie 
work, and that he has not signed a unilateral contract 

46 



1111(1(4- wliicli lie is (leiiicd, in the event of (lania,i;e or dis- 
pnte, the ri^lit of appeal to a fair board or (Mniitabh* 
conrt for relief. The great majority of contracts offered 
us for our guarantee are not written with a view to fair- 
ness to both sides, but are written by the owners for the 
owners. Many of these contracts contain stipulations 
and impose obligations on the contractor which, if exe- 
cuted to the letter, would entail great financial loss to 
the contractor, and in many cases would work his com- 
plete financial ruin. I believe you will agree with i.ie 
that such contracts should never be Avritten, and if writ- 
ten, should not be signed. The fact that so many con- 
tracts are unilateral is no more due to the cupidity of the 
Engineers or Architects than to the stnpidity of the 
Contractors. Contractors/ have been so eager for work 
that they have been accustomed to signing any contract 
offered them which contained a price for work, in^espec- 
tive of the limitations and restrictions with which the 
contract is burdened. Knowing this, Engineers and 
Architects have decided that the}^ owe it to their clients 
to incoiT3orate in their contracts these stipulations and 
obligt.^ions, relying on their own sense of fairness and 
equity to ^ee that justice is done to both parties. When 
we reprimand the contractor for having signed a con- 
tract containing certain unreasonable paragraphs, he 
answers us by saying: "They won't stand in Court." The 
contractor should not have to resort to a court to pro- 
cure rights which should be expressed and given in the 
contract; and Engineers and Architects should not 
stipulate in their contracts conditions which are inequi- 
table and not enforcible in law. For instance, we do not 
believe that it is fair to impose a heavy per diem forfeit 
on the contractor. It works an injustice to both i^arties 
to the contract. If, by reason of unavoidable delays 
in the prosecution of the work, this clause comes up 
for consideration, the contractor feels that it is a kind of 

47 



blackmail, and that lie is being held up and robbed. On 
the other hand, nnder this clanse of the contract, what 
advantages innre to the owner? He gets a job finished 
in too great hnrr^^; he gets defective material, defi- 
cient workmanship performed by nnskilled labor and 
a few hnnded dollars extracated from the contractor as 
forfeiture. The amount he has been able to collect from 
the contractor will not repair the defects in his plant, 
and after a few months he discovers so many additional 
defects, that he is sometimes provoked to say that the 
Engineer or Architect was more careful of the contract- 
or's interest than of his. So the Engineer, or the Ar- 
chitect, as the case may be, gets the ^'hot end of the 
stick'' from both parties. It is m}^ opinion that if the 
Engineers and Architects on one hand and the Contract- 
ors and Manufacturers on the other hand would give due 
consideration to those matters, they would decide that 
the only contract that is fair is the contract that is fair 
to both parties. 

Another condition sometimes expressed in a contract 
which appeals to us as being an incongruity, is the 
naming of the Engineer or Architect as the one party to 
decide all questions as to damage or disputes which 
arise betw^een the contractor on the one hand and the 
owner on the other hand. It is our opinion that the En- 
gineer or Architect should decide all questioiis about 
which there is a dispute, but in every case his decision 
should be appealable to a board of arbitration. I am 
sure that Efigineers and Architects do not covet the 
privilege of passing upon the rights of the contractor in 
matt(^rs of dispute between him and the Engineei''s cli- 
ent, 1h(^ owner; and they have in this respect aUowed 
owners to impose upon them a burden which I believe 
was never contem])lated in their ])rofession as a proper 
duty devolving u])()n tluMii. Tliey should not counte- 
iijiuce juiy elToi'l on Ihe [)art of (lie owuei' io hiwv tl)f'iu 

48 



act as a court of last resort, for it entails upon them the 
necessity of acting as agent for both parties at the same 
time — a thing inconsistent with their own contract of 
enii)k)yment, and in law a nullily. In what respect is 
the City Engineer's relations to the City different from 
those of the City Attorney? No City Attorney Avould 
be allowed, after defending a claim or suit against the 
City, to Avalk upon the bench, constitute himself a Conrt 
of last resort, and pass on the rights of the claimant. In 
l)ractice the S3^stem usually works satisfactorily, but in 
X)rinciple it is wrong. Fortunately for the contractors 
the Engineers or Architects, owing to their high sense 
of honor and keen appreciation of the responsibility of 
tlieii* i^ositions, have, at great expense of time and en- 
ergy, endeavored to maintain an equitable status be- 
tween both parties to the contract, and thus a parity of 
rights usually obtains. 

Many contracts submitted to us for our approval and 
guarantee are rather too liberal to the contractor in one 
particular. I refer to the matter of payments. Ten 
per cent of the contract price is not a sufficient amount 
to retain until the completion of the work, and I make 
thi ssuggestion for the following reasons: Most con- 
tractors calculci te on a profit of ai^proximately ten per 
cent.; and specifications stating that ninetj^ per cent, of 
work jierformed and materials furnished wall be paid as 
the w^ork progresses, is an alluring proposition to a cer- 
tain class of contractors, who are led to believe that they 
can carry on the work without capital. If they are 
awarded the contract, and in good faith undertake to 
perform the work thereunder, and are fortunate enough 
to do the work wdthin their estimated cost, well and 
good; but if they find the actual cost exceedilig their es- 
timated cost, the result is a default, the surety is delayed 
in the completion of the work, the Engineer is blamed 
and sometimes abused, and the owner is dissatisfied and 

49 



damaged. The Contractor should be required to invest 
enough money in each contract to guarantee good faith 
on his part. The chief advantage of a larger percent- 
age reserve, therefore, is that it will tend to preclude the 
irresponsible bidder who is without means, and who, 
therefore, has nothing to lose from competing with the 
reliable contractors who have their capital and reputa- 
tion at stake. I would, therefore, suggest that at least 
15 per cent, or 20 per cent, of the contract price should 
be reserved until the satisfactory completion of the con - 
tract. 

It is our opinion that a uniform contract is desirable; 
and I would like to suggest, if you will allow me to do so, 
that if the Engineers of this Association will recommend 
a form of contract and the Contractors adopt it, it will 
prove advantageous to all parties concerned. It will 
preclude many a dispute and wrangle between the suc- 
cessful bidder and the Engineer, after the contract has 
been awarded and before the same has been signed. The 
Contractors will know in the outset, and before they sub- 
mit their proposals, exactly what kind of contract to 
expect, and the Engineers will know what kind of con- 
tract will be signed. Anything that tends to lessen and 
allay friction and that looks to a better understanding 
between Engineers and Architects, on the one hand, and 
the Contractors and Material Men, on the other, will re- 
sult in the ultimate good of all parties concerned. 

Lastly, and I shall merely refer to them, are Mainte- 
nance Bonds. These are a "bugaboo" to us all. They 
are to guarantee the durability of the materials and the 
quality of the workmanship. The principal reason that 
these bonds are looked upon with such disfavor is that 
claims are so often made when the defects appearing are 
not tlio results of the use of defective materials or of 
deficient workmanship, but are due to external causes 
over which the contractor has no control and to causes 

50 



which Aveie uiiforc^seeu and which Avcre iicvci* c()iitcini)lat- 
ed iu the minds of either party to the contract as contin- 
gencies to be provided against. It appeals to us that on 
some classes of work a maintenance guarantee of one, 
two or even three years may be exacted without doing 
violence to our ideas of what is reasonable; but long 
time maintenance bonds are, and ought to be, on the 
prohibited list witli all Surety Companies. If the in- 
Huence of this Association results, as I believe it will, in 
creating healthy conditions and fair competition in mat- 
ters of contracts for public improvements, the mainte- 
nance features will take care of tliemselves. 

We are entering upon a period of greatest develop- 
ment, commercially and iudustrialh^, ever known in the 
history of our countr}^, and the question as to wliether 
we build safelj^, wisely and in keeping with the prog- 
ress of this age depends upon you. Private businesses, 
corporations and municipalities are enjoying unpre- 
cedented growth and prosperity and are more liberal 
than ever before in the expenditure of money for modern 
and extensive improvements. Let us pitch our business 
or profession on the highest plane possible, condemn all 
bad practices, discourage and exterminate the fakir, the 
time server, the unscrupulous and build plants, systems 
and improvements that will stand for years and years as 
monuments to the skill, the wisdom and the honesty of 
the engineers and builders of this generation. 

The Chairman: We have listened to a very able ar- 
ticle by Mr. Dodd. I think it would be well to have a 
discussion upon this subject and put it upon record. 

Mr. O'Beirne: We have listened to one of the best 
papers on this subject I have ever had the pleasure of 
hearing. I think there is a whole lot of meat in that 
paper, and I think we should all consider it very serious- 
Ij. It is in line with the recommendation of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee that a larger percentage be held 
back, and I believe with Mr. Dodd, that the ten per cent. 

51 



is not sufficient. I am very mucli inclined to favor 15 
per cent., if not 20 per cent. 

Mr. Crimmins: I also liave enjoyed the reading of 
this paper very mucli. One idea that struck me forci- 
bly was the question of uniform contracts. For my own 
satisfaction, I would like to know if Mr. Dodd has any 
definite idea of what that contract should be. 

Mr. Dodd: What I had in view, and what occurred 
to me when I mentioned that, was the fact that the 
American Institute of Architects and the National 
Builders' Association have a uniform contract, that is 
adopted or recommended by the Institute of Architects 
and adopted by the contractors, and is being used very 
frequently in this part of the country by architects for 
the erection of superstructures, buildings, etc. It works 
very satisfactorily, and it seems to me a contract — I sup- 
pose many have seen it — ^that is pretty fair to all parties 
concerned, and it occurred to me that there could be no 
reason why the engineers, for instanec, on all classes of 
municipal work, like water works, electric lights, etc., 
could not use this contract. The main features are 
similar, and spaces are left for the filling in of the par- 
ticular class of work to be undertaken. 

Mr. Orimmins : The reason for asking the question is, 
that from a material man's standpoint, I know some 
companies have their own form of contract and know 
when they get a man's signature to the bottom they 
have him bound up so there is no way on the top side of 
the earth to get away, and some of the companies are 
members of the Association, and might not take kindly 
to the uniform contract that might be adopted. 

The Chairman: Tliat is a matter that could probably 
be taken up by the engineers in this convention. 

Mr. Wilson: I nse the uniform contract, adopted by 
th(^ National l^nilders, for architectural work and eiigin- 
eei-iug, and it is a fair contract, and will stand any 

52 



test before courts for either side. 1 want to ninvo, at 
the proi)er time, that a committee be apiK)iiite(l on this 
subject to confer with the engineers and contractors, as 
well as the manufacturers also, and prepare and present 
to this Association a contract for its adoption. 

Mr. King: I was very much interested in tlu^ proceed- 
ings this morning, and in the paper this afternoon, in 
regard to increasing the percentage. It is so much in 
accord with views I have heard exj)ressed by ofliceis in 
tlie United States Engineering Works, that it seems to 
me it opens the way for correcting abuses in government 
work to a large degree. I have discussed some time 
ago, with ollicers in the reclamation work in the far 
West, as well as those engaged in the harbor work, all 
over the countr}^, their difficulties. They say that the 
cliief trouble all OTer the United States in having a fair- 
er contract for tlie contractors, is due to the fact that in 
the United States law, contracts have to be awarded to 
the lowest bidder, without discrimination, and that pro- 
vision brings in the bidding, irresponsible people. Their 
aim is to exclude irresponsible bidders and get into goA^- 
ernment contracts only bidders who are responsible men. 
I can hardly think of any more simple means, or effica- 
cous means, of insuring that, than to have the percent- 
age check increased from ten to fifteen per cent. I be- 
lieve that would keep out these men whom the Pittsburg 
papers described last Saturday as "pikers." It is a class 
of men who are not wanted, and whose work is detri- 
mental to the profession in general. 

The Chairman: I presume this matter of the Com- 
mittee on Eules will be taken up tomorrow morning. 

Mr. Tenney: I have made arrangements in regard to 
that. We shall have the meeting tonight at 8:30 in my 
room. We would be glad to have any one come before 
the meeting and express his ideas. 

53 



The Cliairman: The next number on the programme 
is a paper on the Standardization of Hydrant Nozzles by 
Mr. W. H. Hume, of Chattanooga. 

Mr. Orimmins: Mr. Hume will be here tomorrow and 
I would ask that his paper be postponed until his arriv- 
al. 

The Chairman: If there is no objection the reading of 
Mr. Hume's paper will be postponed until tomorrow. We 
will now have the report of the Finance Committee. 

Mr. Bowron: We would like to have further time, as 
we expect the Treasurer tonight. 

The Chairman: If there is no objection further time 
will be granted the Finance Committee. The chair will 
appoint Mr. Ctimmins to read a paper prepared by Mr. 
Frank Gilbreth, of New York, on the Cost-Plus-a-Fixed 
Sum-Contract. 

Mr. CHmmins: 
Mr. President and Gentlemen: 

In accordance with the request of your secretary, I liave 
written this paper describling what is known as the 
"Cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" method of contracting. 

I shall first describe two other and probably better 
known forms of contract, namely, the ^^Lump Sum'' con- 
tract and the "Percentage" contract, and then I shall ex- 
plain in detail the "Cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" contract and 
then the "Cost-plus-a-fixed-sum-contract-with-a-guaran- 
teed-maximuin" which, as a matter of fact, is nothing 
more nor less than a lump sum contract masquerading 
under another name. 

I shall tlien state the reasons for selecting for our 
own business tlie "Cost-pliis-a-fixed-sum" contract exclu- 
sively and our reasons for believing that it is the only 
form of contract that is just and equitable for both tlie 
owiK^r and the contractor, and that it is th(^ only foiin of 

54 



coutract whereby the interests of the owner and the 
Contractor are made identical. I shall endeavor to 
prove that the best resnlis cannot be obtained under the 
"Cost-pltis-a-Fixed-lrNnni" contract if the Contractor takes 
contracts tinder all bases, and that "Cost-plus-a-Fixed- 
Suni" it not what its name implies unless the "Cost" is 
the cost, the A\hole cost, and nothing but tlie cost — and 
unless the whole of the "Fixed Sum" represents the net 
profit to the Contractor. 

Xow let tis rettirn to the three forms of contracts and 
consider their merits and disadvantages from the follow^- 
iug standpoints: 

1. Lowest total cost to the Owner. 

2. Greatest Speed of Construction. 
8. Best AYorkmanshij). 

4. Future btisiness between Owner and Contractor, 
based on past experiences. 

Xow under the lump stim contract, the Contractor 
agrees to ftirnish all labor and material necessary to 
complete a certain definite piece of work (plans, specifi- 
cations and details of which must be complete) for a 
definite lump sum (or at unit prices which, which means 
several lump sums) and while at first glance, that seems 
to be a very reasonable, harmless and peaceful contract, 
as a matter of fact, it is anything but that. (We are 
now discussing forms of contracts and not the character 
of owners nor honesty of Contractors.) The "lump sum" 
contract is a license to stipport lawj^ers and a privilege 
to pay court costs and if there were no more Itimp-sum 
contracts, one-half of the lawyers would have to abandon 
their calling for some other work. 

You all know too well what happens under the Itimp 
stim contract, when the owner changes his mind and the 
architect changes his plans. That is what is called "Ex- 
tra Work." That is what the Contractor has been pray- 
ing for; and on and after the first piece of extra work 

55 



is ordered by the owner, tliat ^^ump Sum" contract 
should be called by its real name, which is "The Lump 
Sum-plus-Extra- Work-plus-Tim e — Extension-plus L a w- 
yers' bills'' contract. In other words, the Owner and the 
Contractor are on opposite sides of the fence. Their in- 
terests are opposed from the start to finish. Every cent 
that the Contractor can save goes into his own pocket 
and every cent the Owner j)ays does not necessarily 
represent value received, because the Owner may be pay- 
ing not onl3^ for non-competitive j)rices for extra work, 
but also paying a large item for interest on his invest- 
ment and loss of rent because the work is not progress- 
ing any faster than is the rate of speed of greatest econ- 
omy to the Contractor. Again, a little saving in the 
time taken for the riveting of the steel work, a little sav- 
ing in the quantity of the cement used, or in the labor 
of mixing of the concrete, while quite u^p to the require- 
ments of the written specifications, is a saving to the 
Contractor, not for the Owner, and these little savings, 
if undesirable or even if harmless, are savings that the 
Contractor gets and for which the Owner j)ays. There- 
fore the Owner does not get his work done at the lowest 
cost, for he has agreed to pay the Contractor a certain 
lump sum (and there's no mistake about that) for per- 
forming a certain piece of work in such a manner that 
the Owner and architect cannot refuse to accept it. 
Without at this time discussing the question of the hiop- 
lioles in the lumj)-suni contract — and the number of these 
loop-holes is legion — let us consider wliat the owner pays 
for this form of contract. The lump-sum contractor won't 
work without a profit, furthermore, he is taking the risk 
of unfavorable circumstances, and he adds a good stiff 
percentage so that he will be sure, no matter what hap- 
pens, of making his profit. Generally the unfavorable cir- 
cnmstance does not develop and the contractor natural- 
ly i)ock(^ts the difference saved. That means two profits. 
Tie also saves lh(^ nion(\v which may accrne through the 

56 



foi'tiiiiale cireiunstancos ^vhicli are just exactly as apt to 
liappeii as the imrortiiiiate ones. That would mean 
three i)rofits. 

Under the lump sum contract the Owner cannot hold 
the Contractor to the speed requirements nor the date 
of completion of the contract if he has ordered extra 
work. There are certain well known printed forms of 
contracts that have had an extensive sale, that state 
that there shall be a time extension equal to the amount 
of delay caused by any extra work and that particular 
clause has been a source of joy for many a hard-pressed 
contractor. 

In summing up there can be no doubt that there is 
very little to be said in favor of the "Lump Sum-plus- 
extra -work-plus-lawyers' bills-and-costs" form of con- 
tract that would of itself make future business between 
the parties, based on their j^ast mutual experiences, be- 
cause the interests of the parties are opposed from the 
beginning to the end. 

ISTow we come to the second form of contract, which is 
known as the "Percentage" contract. 

Under this form of contract the contractor agrees to 
furnish all labor and materials necessary to complete 
the entire undertaking for cost plus an agreed upon per- 
centage of said cost. This form of contract is very 
nearly perfect, but not quite. The owner can regulate 
the speed and the time of completion — he can decide 
whether or not he will give way to strikers or put non- 
union men to work. The owner's and the contractor's 
interests are identical so far as speed of construction 
and the desire to obtain good work is concerned and the 
chances of continued pleasant relations would, be good 
if it were not for the fact that the owner is apt to sus- 
pect that the contractor may be increasing the cost of 
the work for the sake of getting more profit, for the con- 
tractor's profit is in this case directly proportional to 

. 57 



the cost of nndertaking ; to obviate tliis disadvantage, 
the third form of contract, namely the ^^Oost-plus-a-fix- 
ed-sum'' contract v^as devised. 

This form of contract has all the advantages of the 
"Cost-plns-iDercentage" contract and withont its disad- 
vantage, because there is no incentive to the contractor 
to increase the cost because it would not increase his 
Ijrofit. The only disadvantage that anyone can discover 
to the ''Oost-i3lus-a- fixed-sum" contract is that the owner 
cannot possibly get his undertaking comj^leted for less 
than cost, as he might possibly do under the ^'Lump 
Sum'' contract, if the contractor made an error in his 
lump sum estimate and had no opportunity to make up 
on "extra work.'' The advantages of this form of con> 
tract to the owner and to the contractor are numerous 
and 1 quote here from the literature that we have sent 
broadcast throughout the country during the last three 
3^ears of our campaign to induce contractors, archi- 
tects, engineers and owners to do business on the 
"Oost-plus-a-fixed-sum" basis. The Owner's and the 
Contractor's interests are made identical. The Owner 
knows in advance exactly how much profit the Contract- 
or will make. The Owner's interests require that the 
work be executed in the shortest possible time at the 
lowest possible cost and with the best of workmanship. 
The Owner's interests are absolutely identical with those 
of the Contractor in every one of these particulars, be- 
cause his profit or salary being assured, the Contractor's 
only interest is to perform the work in such a manner as 
to retain tlie Owner's patronage. The Owner is relieved 
of the menace of "extra work" — all the work being done 
at cost. The Contractor's "fixed-sum" is in no way af- 
fected by the changes in the plans. The Owner has the 
benefit of all cash discount for materials. The Owner 
kuoAvs what all materials will cost before they are pur- 
chased. Tlie OwiH>]' can ])iirchase the materials if he so 

58 



desires. Tlie owner can have his excavations and founda- 
tions completed while plans for superstructure are being 
drawn. The owner, engineer or architect can make 
changes or alterations at any time without delaying the 
work. The owner can have an}^ number of skilled and 
carefully craiued mechanics massed on his contract at a 
moment's notice. The Owner knows what the Contrac- 
tor 's i>rofit is to be from the very ontset of the Avork. It 
is the same amount irrespective of the cost of the work, 
and there is, therefore, no incentive for the Contractor to 
produce anything bnt snbstantial and. economical work. 
The Owner has his building completed as rapidly as is 
consistent with good workmanship. The owner or his an- 
thorized representative has access at all times to all 
matters pertaining to the work. The benefits of the 
"Cost-plns-a-iixed-sum" contract, taken from the Con- 
tractoi'^s viewpoint, are: The Contractor has the oppor- 
tunity to win npon his merit an enviable position in the 
business world's confidence. The Contractor's profit on 
a piece of Avork is assured. The Contractor will be free 
from relations with owners who have not the conrage to 
take legitimate risks attendant upon their own enter- 
prises, and who vdsh to saddle them npon a Contractor 
npon a lumi) snm basis and leave him to gamble his way 
out as best he can. The Contractor has, on the other 
hand, the satisfaction of dealing with an owner who has 
no reason to snspect him of over reaching, who is not in 
constant dread of extortionate charges for "extra work," 
and who, in a word, has a contract offering complete in- 
sight to the financial affairs of the job. 

While we never have claimed to have been the first 
concern to do contracting on the basis of "cost-phis-a- 
fixed-sum," we think that we were the first to start the 
campaign cai "Cost-plus-a-fixed-sum and nothing bnt 
Cost-plus-ri-fixed-sum" and onr reasons for it were cans- 
ed by onr experiences during those years that we took 

59 



some ^^lump-sum'^ contract at the same time that we had 
"Cost-plus" contracts in operation. 

We fonnd that there was a "tendency" to put our best 
superintendents and apprentices who could do a man's 
work for an apprentice's pay and our best plant on the 
lump-sum contracts and the second-class foremen, "old 
pensioners" and the rest of the plant on the "Cost-plus" 
contracts. To do away with this "tendency" we made it 
an iron-bound rule to take no more "Lump-Sum" con- 
tracts under any conditions whatever, regardless of how 
much profit there might be in them, and we will not 
award a sub-contract for labor or material on the "Cost- 
plus" basis if the sub-contractor has any lump-sum con- 
tracts being constructed simultaneously. 

As a possible result of our "Cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" cam- 
paign, it is interesting to note its apparent effect on the 
adyertising literature in the engineering journals of the 
country. One large firm states: "We solicit contracts on 
the 'lump sum,' ^day work,' ^percentage' and ^cost-plus-a- 
fixed-sum' basis. Another prints, "We will also take 
contracts on the cost-i3lus-a-fixed-sum basis." On which 
jobs then will their best men be? Another states, "We 
take contracts on basis of actual cost, plus-fixed sum of 
profit to us and for this profit, we furnish superintend- 
ents and complete plant." Now that sounds good to 
any inexperienced owner but what is the "tendency?" 
Neither "the actual cash cost" nor the "fixed sum of i3rof- 
it to us" are what they are called if the contractor paj^s 
for the superintendence and also for the leasing of or for 
the deterioration of the plant. This proposition is like 
the theory of life insurance — in any one company — all 
that you get for what you pay for is the same, mathe- 
matically, regardless of the kind of policy 3^ou take out. 
So why not reduce the "fixed sum" and have tlie owner 
pay for all superintendence and all plant which may be 
]eas(Ml, or bought new and sold at the coin])l(Mi()n of the 

60 



work, iunl lie can tlieii know just Avliat lie is iietually J^t't- 
tiii<;- and know Avliat lie is really paying- for it — and 
furthermore Avliat is the "tendency" under this foi'm of 
contract? Is it not perfectly evident that the l(^ss (he 
contractor pays out of his fixed sum for superintendence 
and plant, the more he makes? The worst attempts to 
assassinate the "cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" principle are the 
advertisements which state, "We do work on the basis of 
*cost"plus-a-fixed-sum-and-a-guaranteed-maxiniuin :' " also 
"we take contracts on the basis of ^guaranteed maximum 
cost plus fixed profit to us.' " 

XoAV at first glance those do look as if the}' had all 
the advantages of the "cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" contract 
and "lump sum" contract combined, but they are nothing 
of the sort — on the other hand, thej are absolutely noth- 
ing more nor less than "lump sum" contracts (if they 
have a guaranteed, maximum cost) and the "fixed sum" 
is "fixed" only in case the maximum is not reached. Un- 
der a "guaranteed maximum "cost-plus-a-fixed-suni" con- 
tract, the interests of the parties are not identical. 
Xeither party knows how much the contractor will 
make. The contractor cannot afford to rush the work 
beyond that speed which is the most economical for him. 
EVery change in the plans brings up that question of 
"extra work" which of course must raise the amount of 
the maximum guaranteed and then if the owner and the 
contractor are unable to agree, it is for the lawyers to 
decide. 

The entire theory of the "cost-plus-a-fixed-sum" contract 
is that the owner shall have his own way in any anl all 
matters pertaining to his work. He shall have the right to 
decide Avhat materials shall be bought and whether or not 
they shall be bought of the lowest bidder. lie shall 
have the right to order the contractor to put on as many 
or as few men as the owner wants regardless of whether 
or not there are strikes. His decision shall be final re- 

61 



garding the iiajdng of bonuses for the quick delivery of 
material and his decision shall be final on all matters 
pertaining to the conduct of the job. 

Tt is obvious that under these conditions it is ridicu- 
lous to expect any contractor to guarantee an^^ maxi- 
mum cost. If the ^^cost-plus-a-tixed-sum" contract is to 
be used, let the owner pay for all of the actual cash cost 
and have it understood how much actual profit the con- 
tractor is to have and that the entire ^'fixed sum" is to 
be net profit to the contractor, but if it is decided that 
the form of contract to be used is one wherein the inter- 
ests of tlie owner and the contractor are not identical, 
the advice of any experienced lawyer to either side, 
would be to start in on the day the contract is signed 
and collect your evidence for it may be very valuable 
when the case comes to trial. 

The "cost-plus-a-fixed-sum'' contract has proven time 
and time again that the same amount of effort, thought, 
and money required to win lawsuits can be best spent to 
reduce the costs and the time of construction and in se- 
curing better workmanship, and it is therefore hoped 
that all owners, architects, engineers and contractors 
will do all in their power to help along "that square 
deal for every body,'' the "Oost-plus-a-flxed-sum" con- 
tract. 

Respectfully submitted, 

FEANK B. GILBRETH. 



Mr. O'Beirne: 1 think the paper we have just heard 
has something in it for the serious consideration of this 
Association. I believe if a municipal contract Avas h't 
on the basis of cost, plus a fixed sum contract, every bi<]- 
der woukl simply bid the amount it Avas Avorth — Avhat he 
would do the work for. It Avoiild not be simply a ques- 
tion of the lowest bi(kler by any nutans. 1 believt^ it 
would be a (^uesliou of who could (h) (he work for (he 

62 



least nionev, ic^iiardlcss of tlieanioiint llicy hid as piot'ii. 
I Ixdicve it is tlie fairest and best form of coiiiriu-l, and 
I would like, sonu^ day, to se(^ every cniitract made on 
that basis. 

Mr. Teinu\v: I would like to hear what the city eonn- 
oils would say as to how you are to do the work. 

Mr. O'Beinie: As I understand it, the owner can tell 
you, if you are i>oin<>- too fast or too slow. Tliis. 1 believe 
to be the whole kernel of the (iu(\-^Tioa. Tlie owner has 
a ri<ijht to say how fast or how slow the Y>-ork shall ])ro 
eeed. 

The Chairman: How does this affect the competition 
of the manufacturer? 

Mr. O'Beirne: I don't think there is any manufac- 
turer who would refuse an order to make machinery for 
a certain amount of money, plus the cost. Of course, 
that means everything connected with it. 

Mr. Crimmins: It seems to me, the way I understood 
that paper, the manufacturer Avould not enter into it. 
It seems to me it would give the manufacturer a square 
deal. It is up to the town to buy ni}- material — taking 
it for granted we are talking about municipal contracts. 
The toAvn will bu}^ the material and pay for it; the man 
who makes the contract hasn't anything to do with it 
at all. 

Mr. Tenne}': I do not see what they will wai}t a con- 
tractor for, the engineer will be the man Avho has to look 
out for it. He would pick out a foreman. That is the 
first thing they do in some little towns, and they would 
not have a contractor on the job. They could tell the 
contractor what to do, and they could tell the foreman 
what to do, and I don't think that would do' at all. 

Mr. O'Beirne: If you assume that one contractor can 
do the work as Avell as another, 3 ou are correct, but the 
fact is, there are few contractors, that execute contracts, 

63 



of like character and qnantit}^ for tlie same cost. I 
have noticed a difference of from fifteen to fifty per cent, 
in the item of labor alone nnder different foremen on 
same work. Contractors have their faults like other 
men and if I were to pick out one under a Cost-Plus-a- 
Fixed-Sum contract, I would be careful to get a man of 
skill and experience in that particular line, in the expec- 
tation of getting a better and more economical execu- 
tion of the work, even though I paid him a larger fixed 
sum for his services, than was asked by others. This 
plan gives a contractor a chance to build up a profitable 
business. The plan of the Cost-Plus-a-Fixed-Sum con- 
tract is meeting with great favor in all parts of the 
country. Eecentl}^ I learned of a few contracts let on 
that basis for residences in Hattiesburg, Miss. The con- 
tractors Avere from Peoria, 111. The owners had confi- 
dence in the judgment and skill of the contractors and 
])ref erred to give them the work for a fixed sum and 
cost, rather than let the work in the usual way, and take 
the chance of having as a low bidder some contractor 
that they would not want to do the work. 

Mr. Tenney: It seems to me the worst thing in get- 
ting a contract of this kind is that most corporations 
want to know before the work gets started "What is the 
plant going to cost us?" They have funds to provide 
and ordinarily it is hard work to get enough money to 
pay off the contractor. Before they start the work they 
want to know whether they are going to spend |125,000 
or 1150,000 for this contract. The city makes an esti- 
mate of $200,000 for seAvers; they do not knoAV Avhether 
it is going to cost |200,000 or more. They issue f200,- 
000 of sewer bonds. They do not knoAV Avliat tl)e cost 
will be, but they will Avant to knoAV before they Avill exe- 
cute a contra(!t. For that reason it seems to me it 
would be in llie ])()AV(n* of Hk^ city council to change 
about any lime a contract was wanlcMl on tlu^ (\)st-Plns- 

64 



a-Fixed-Siiiii basis. Some private individuals Avlio hav(^ 
plenty of money Avonld be perfectly Avilling to let a (-(.n- 
tract of that character, but if a man is going to buihl a 
factory he will Avant to knoAV what it will cost before he 
starts. 

Mr. Jones: That is part of the remark I was going to 
make. lie left out one point, however, 1 think. i do 
not think this kind of contract Avould be api)Iicable to 
nuniicipal Avork. The question of politics comes in 
much more than is often considered and the council, if 
the}' are all representative and fair men, Avant to stand 
by the people. I have that idea in Avorking for munici- 
pal corporations because Ave Avant to be very precise in 
the x>osition, each contractor occupies and each council- 
man wants to stand by the public and have everything 
very definite that is connected with the Avhole contract, 
and particularlj^, as i^emarked, the cost of it. Suppose 
the contract is let for |100,000 or |150,000; there Avould 
be all sorts of unkind remarks abo*ut the council that 
went into such a deal and furthermore, the laAV of the 
States control the actions of municipal corporations to a 
A'ery large extent. I have run across it in quite a num- 
ber of the United States. I am not a laAA^yer but I know 
politics control it A^erA' largely. Before issuing bonds, 
they have got to get a special act through the legisla- 
ture. I had one instance in a small toAvn where they 
were going to construct waterA\'orks for $40,000 and had 
no plans and specifications and wanted to knoAv if that 
Avould be enough and I told them "Xo." They inade 
some additions which increased the cost |10,000. I told 
them they would haA'e to do something definite which 
they did. They wanted to know where the water was 
coming from, about the distribution of hydrants, size of 
the mains, etc. The political situation has so much to 
do with it, so that I am afraid my friend won't see his 
plan of cost plus a fixed sum working for some time. 

65 



Mr. O^Beirne: I liave seen occasions during the past 
year where 'twas thought the bid was too high and city 
did the work on force account. I know it is the prac- 
tice of some cities to do all work on force account, be- 
cause they get actual cost of the work. I do not belieye 
there is any cit}^ or industrial corporation but what re- 
gards as immaterial the fact that cost exceeds original 
estimate, provided it is the actual cost that exceeds. 
Most people and most cities object to contractors mak- 
ing too much profit, but do not object to pa^dng addi- 
tional money if they get an actual value in return. 

It is far worse when work is done under what is known 
as the unit contract price, where each item of the con- 
tract is paid a fixed sum per foot or yard as the case may 
be, if the cost of the completed w^ork exceeds original es- 
timates, as is usually the case, the city or owner is gen- 
erall}^ dissatisfied; we all know that. 

We have engineers who can, before a contract is let, 
give a close approximate estimate of the cost, and if the 
city orders additional work they do it with their eyes 
open and know they are going to suffer for it. People 
don't want to pay more than a job is worth, and the mer- 
it of this fixed sum contract is that thej get exactly what 
the}^ j)ay for. It is something that this Association can 
look at with their eyes open. We are here to benefit 
ourselves and the communities at large. I believe we 
ought to look at it fairly and squarely and if we can 
benefit a community by giving exactly what they are en- 
titled to, Ave should do it. I don't believe there is a city 
in the South that has any laws against letting a con- 
tract in til at way. 

Mr. Tenney: If I understand tliat tlie city otticials 
or tli(^ owner liave a riglit to dictate to the contractor 
how fast or liow slow he shall go ami bow to i)re])are liis 
Avork, it Avoiild secMU to me very objcH-tioiiable. ^Lost of 
tiie cily councils liav(» (heir frieiHls appoiiUed as tore- 

66 



iiieii, and so on and in the <^radin<^- of our streets tliey 
would want dirt to be taken oft' the streets and carried to 
their particuhir lots and tiUed in, and it seems to nie 
that Avonld be very objectionable; but if you add to the 
contract a chiuse that all engineers have in their con- 
tracts, that Ave now sign, it seems to me I would feel 
very proud; and that is, to put in tlie contract that tln^ 
decision of the contractor shall be final and binding on 
all parties. (Applause.) 

The Chairman: It does not matter what a thing 
costs if the inirchaser gets the benefit and I Avould like 
to hear from ^Ir. AVilson, what he Avas to say about it. 

Mr. Wilson: I think there is no reason why engineers 
should take Avork at such close margins that toAvns 
would suffer serious embarrassment. The weakest point 
in the paper is the one Mr. O'Beirne brought out and 
that is that some men can do AA^ork even fifty per cent, 
cheaper than others. 1 do not see hoAv an engineer or 
community can select the men Avho can do the Avork the 
cheapest. Certainh^ a community cannot because they 
liaA^e not had the experience. Contracts for different 
years are taken by different councils and they liaA-e no 
regard for doing work cheaply. They do not know, but 
one who has built water works for |150,000 AAill hear 
it might have been built by somebody else for |125,000. 
We are running a risk in adopting that system and em- 
ploying an inefficient contractor, AAdiich we do not run in 
employing an efficient contractor. That I think is the 
AA^eakest point in the system. 

Mr. (TBeirne: From a contractor's A^ew I should 
think that what Mr. AVilson calls the weakest point is 
the strongest. If a citA^ were to let a contract on the 
cost-plus-a-fixed-sum-basis, the important item Avould be 
to select the contractor AAdiose rejjutatiou for skill and 
economy in handling men and materials Avas greatest, 
the amount of the fixed sum bid by each contractor 

67 



Avoiild be a seconclaiy matter. The yaliie, as I see it, of 
the cost plus-a-fixed-snm-contract, lies in the fact that 
there would be an incentive to build np a reputation 
that in time would be a valuable asset. 

Under present conditions the most reputable firms 
have no precedence over the most irresponsible. 

Mr. Tenney: I would like to hear from contractors 
Avho make a point of doing v\^ork for city councils. 

Mr. Brady: I would like to ask if Mr. O'Beirne has 
ever given a sub-contractor work on that basis. 

Mr. O^Beirne: No, but there are many people I would 
be i3leased to give w^ork on the cost-plus-a-fixed-sum-con- 
tract. 

The Chairman : I think this paper should be referred 
to some committee. 

Mr. O'Beirne: The Committee on Eules is a busy 
committee. I think it should be referred to the Com- 
mittee on Contracts and left to them. I would suggest 
further that you appoint a special committee to take up 
the question we were sjDeaking of a while ago, of making 
uniform contracts and leave it entirely to that commit- 
tee. 

Mr. Wilson: I move that a committee of five consist- 
ing of engineers and contractors, whoever the chair may 
prefer, prepare two uniform contracts, one on the lump 
sum cost and one on the cost-plus-a-fixed-sum basis. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

The Chairman: I will appoint on that committee Mr. 
Tenney, Mr. O'Beirne, as contractors; Mr. Wilson, Mr. 
W. F. Wilcox, as engineers, and Mr. Slicer. 

The Chairman: Tlie next business is a paper on The 
Bednction of Fire Insurance Preminms, by W. F. Wil- 
cox, of Meridian, Miss., which I will ask the Secretary to 
read. 



THE KEOrCTIOX OF FIRE INSFKAXrE rUEMiniS. 



The Secretary: 
Mr. Chainuaii aud Gentlemen: 

Insurance has been one of the greatest factors, in the 
npbuildino- of this great countiy. It is therefore emi- 
nentl}^ proper that The American Public Works Associ- 
ation, composed as it is of the representatives of the 
men who have made snch a nation possible, should give 
this question the benefit of their closest attention, and 
best thought. 

Insurance is an absolute necessity to a nation like 
America; and is a great aid to the development of any 
country. 

It is as much a basis of credit, as your balance at the 
bank, or your personal integrity. What would become 
of us, if it were not for these great and, as a whole, hon- 
est coii^orations who agree to indemnify us against the 
loss by fire of our homes, our wares, and our crops, as 
they lie piled up ready for market? If the insurance 
companies were wiped out of existence, as some of the 
strongest were by the great San Francisco disaster, there 
would be such a panic as the world has never known. 

The rich would be jjaupers and the poor would starve. 

With the possibilit}^ of such a disaster before us, can 
we not spare the time to study this great question? 

Mam^ people, of more than ordinary intelligence, seem 
to regard the insurance companies as their natural ene- 
mies; this is wrong. 

The insurance business is so paternal in its care of the 
risks which you assume in the daily conduct of your 
business, that it stands for as much when it giiarautees 
the enjoyment of property safe from loss by fire as does 
the State or municipal government, which guarantees 
you may be safe in the enjoyment of your property 

69 



rights and that the strong may not rob the weak. Car- 
ried to a further comparison, you will find that every 
protection guaranteed you hj law is insurable. 

The earliest insurance of which we have any record, 
was the Commune Sj^stem, which had its origin in As- 
syria and the East. 

Under the '^Commune System" the adjusters or judges, 
had authority to examine into the cause of a fire and, if 
it was accidental, there was an assessment put upon the 
district to pay the loser. 

This must have been the only form of insurance for 
more than two thousand years, for we find it in exist- 
ence in Flanders in 1240 A. D. 

At that early date, the communities had found it nec- 
essary to protect themselves from incendiaries. 

The laws then provided that, in case of incendiarism, 
the incendiary forfeited his propert}^, and if his property 
was insufficient, he w^as banished. In 1907, we will 
celebrate with a great centennial the founding of James- 
town, Va. (1607.) Would it not be fitting to also cele- 
brate the tri-centennial of the present great insurance 
s^^stem? For it was in 1609 that a committee proposed 
to Count Yon Oldenburg that the state should under- 
take to provide an indemnity against loss by fire at a 
liremium of one percentum. The Count declined the 
proiDosition, and suggested that the venture be under- 
taken by private individuals. 

In England various schemes of insurance were tried 
from 1635 to 1667, and it is asserted that some of their 
failures were due to the instabilit}^ of tlie government. 

In 1666 came tlie great fire of London, which Avas rela- 
tively tlie largest fire the world lias ever known. T(mi 
years x)assed before London replaced the burned build- 
ings, but Chicago, in 1870, aided by the ])reseut great 
syslcni of insurance, recnperatcMl in as many niontlis, and 

70 



at San Fiancisco the fluod of money poured in by llie in- 
surance (•()nii)anies necessitated placing millions on <le- 
posit in ]NeAV York. 

In the year M'Au Nichohis Barbon, of London, first un- 
dertook to rephice for a fixed cliaruc^ or premium i)rop- 
erty destroyed by fir(\ 

This was modern insurance be<>un. 

Profiting by experience, the Suu Fire Association was 
formed in 1710, and is still in existence todjiy, bein<;' 
l)robably the oldest insurance company in the worhl. 
We have little information as to wliat was being con- 
temporaneonsly done in Europe and Asia, but we do 
know that the other nations were not idle. In Germany 
and Switzerland state insnrance was started and toda}' 
each home in these countries is insured by the state 
wben completed, but the bnlk of insnrance, Avhicli in- 
clndes all other classes, is carried by indi^idnals and 
corporations. 

In France Ave find that the great Xapoleon contribnted 
niucli time to the question of insnrance, and today there 
is much that we may learn, on this question, from his 
wonderful creation, the "Code Napoleon." 

Frenchmen mnst and do carry insurance, not only to 
indemnify themselves against loss, bnt also to indemnify 
their neighbors against a loss negligently inflicted. 

In the eighteenth century America began to take her 
place as one of the great nations, and joined hands Avith 
the old Avorld in the solution of this great qnestiou. 

From the middle of the eighteenth century we see that 
all of the nations of the world are busy organizing fixed 
rate companies, both stock and mutual, mutual indemnl- 
fiers, and voluntary fire and salvage companies. 

More than two thousand of these were organized and 
less than ten per cent, of them exist today. 

Standing as we do today upon the pinnacle of achieve- 
ment, Ave see the survival of the fittest, and each AAdth its 

71 



proper sphere and usefulness. Looking backward, we 
see tkat insurance has ever been one of the world's great 
questions. The insurance company of today, with its 
allied interest and appliances for the indemnification 
and prevention of loss, represent as a whole the best 
thought of centuries, and the life work of men who 
would liave achieved greatness in any sphere of life. 

The great State of New York has recently spent much 
time and money upon the study of how to improve the 
conditions in one of the branches of insurance. 

I would advocate a similar study of all branches of in- 
surance, for they are equally important. 

Every State in the Union spends as much for insur- 
ance as it does for government, and each legislature 
should have an insurance committee, which should have 
equal standing with its ways and means committee, and 
study to improve conditions governing insurance rates. 

A more careful study would tend to cure many evils 
that exist, and procure the best insurance at the lowest 
possible cost. 

^ oi-oat step which nearly all of the States have taken, 
is the creation of an insurance department, and I am 
glad to be able to state that the men occupying the po- 
sitions of Insurance Commissioners in the various States 
are honest men of more than ordinary ability. 

What is politically and commonly known as "The 
Common People'^ should give more time and study to the 
question of insurance. 

Such a study would create a better understanding of 
the question, and lead to the inevitable conclusion that 
insurance is a great economic- question and not a politi- 
cal one. 

As an evidence of what stndy will do, I wish to cite an 
incident in the last Lonisiana Legishitnro. 

A member came to the capitol with Idood in liis eye, 
and demanded the enactment of a Liw tliat Avonld 

72 



protect the "Coiniuou l*eoj)le" from tlio Loiiisiniia V\n^ 
PreA'ention Bureau. 

This act was about to pass, Avh(Mi th(^ business inter- 
ests of the State came and asked a heariug. The in em- 
ber and liis committee gave a careful consideration to 
the evidence and made visits to several points in the 
State. Upon returning to Baton Kouge (1 am informetl) 
the author asked leave to withdraw the bill, stating 
that examination had shown that the Bureau was doing 
a great work for the "Common People.^' 

This and other similar bureaus are doing much for com- 
mon good in that the insurance companies are practi- 
cally demonstrating to the people that better construc- 
tion of buildings and reasonable and intelligent efforts 
to prevent fires will save enough in the reductions in 
insurance premiums, to pay handsome returns on the 
investment of both time and money and still show a sav- 
ing to the insured. 

I believe that ever}^ insurance commissioner should 
have an engineering assistant to act with these fire i)Vf 
vention bureaus, and that the commissioners .id 

have authority to enforce regulations for fire prevention. 
Few stop to think and many more are indifferent to the 
fact that a man who knowingly endangers his neigh- 
bor's property, is an enemy to the community. If it 
were possible to put the unthinking people into a class 
by themselves, and make them pay for their selfish in- 
difference, all would be well, but since it is not, the law 
should step in and protect the painstaking and progres- 
sive man who is trying to protect himself. 

It is a fact that a risk may in itself be good but its sur- 
rounding hazard be so great, that the risk becomes an 
undesirable one, and the OAvner is compelled to suffer a 
penalty because of his neighbor's carelessness or indif- 
ference. 

An insurnce premium is the price paid for a contract 

73 



with aj] insurance compam^, wherein the insurance com- 
pany agrees that for a stipulated percentage of a given 
amount, paid annually, they will pay to you that given 
amount in case you should be so unfortunate as to have 
your house destroyed by fire, and suffer a loss to that 
extent. 

An insurance i)remium is not a prize that the insur- 
ance company gets for being in the indemnity business, 
as many seem to think. 

The correct definition, as laid down by the best au- 
thorities, is that an insurance premium is the price or 
cost of an indemnifying contract. In determining what 
should be the proper rate or percentage to charge 
for an indemnifying contract, careful calculation must 
be made and this must then be checked or compared 
with a statistical table, which has been carefully pre- 
pared from years of experience. 

The first thing to be determined is what is the risk 
that the insurance companj^ takes in guaranteeing to 
indemnify you in case of fire. 

We will take as an illustration a dwelling which is to 
be rated for the purpose of insurance. 

If the insurance company gives you a basis rate of one 
per cent., it means that if your house is j)roperly built 
and you will take ordinary care in i3rotecting yourself 
against lire, the chances are 100 to one that your house 
will not burn during the year. 

If the basis rate is two per cent, it means that ex])eri- 
ence has shoAvn 3^our chance of loss during the year to 
be one in fifty. 

NoAV snppose that your house has defective flues, and 
by tlie way, these cause about thirty per cent, of the an- 
nual fir(^s, then tlie rat(^r must add an additional amount 
lo your ])i'(Mnium, aud so ho must do f()r every item that 

74 



would tcMid to liazard tlio risk wliicli tlir insm-ancc com- 
pany assiiines when it a^iTOOS to indoiniiily yon a,uaii!<t 
loss by fire. 

Yon hear many people say, ^'why, my insnrance rate is 
higher than before we had water works, or a five depart- 
ment, or pared streets. 

This may be trne in some instances, and why? Be- 
canse the increasing size of towns, the tendency to build 
higher buildings, and the saving of ground space, by put- 
ting houses closer together, make your danger from fire 
greater, and lessens the number of years that you might 
expect to escape damage from fire. 

The demand for water works, paid fire departments, 
steam fire engines, salvage corps, paved streets, etc., are 
not the inventions of the insurance companies, but are 
necessitated by the ever increasing danger from fire 
caused by the tendency to congest values. 

A modern city block will contain more in values and 
be a greater loss if burned than the average little city 
of five thousand inhabitants. As we congest our val- 
ues, we inust have larger fire apparatus and better fire 
departments, and paved streets, so that the fire extin- 
^lishing apparatus may be moved quickly and certainly, 
and be of value when it is needed. Other causes 
which necessitate increased rates are unfair laws and 
moral hazard. I^nfair laws increase not only the cost 
of doing business but also increase the loss by fire, so it 
can be easily seen that good laws are a good investment 
from the assured's standpoint for he, in the end, must 
foot the bill. 

The moral hazard covers not only the personal danger 
from the incendiary, but also a danger from the general 
indifference of a communitA' to the enforcement of hiw. 

These two largely increase the loss in certain locali- 
ties, and you find that the insurance companies charge 
for these and for unexplained fires under the head of P. 



bad fire record, which may also include miscellaneous 
items. There are man^^ ways in which laws increase the 
exj)enses of the insurance companies in doing business. 
1 would not have any law repealed which malies in- 
surance a certain indemnity, but I would suggest that 
we carefully examine our laws and repeal such as are 
useless and only pander to the cry of the demigogue and 
injure even him. 

It may be seen from the records that the loss by fire 
is enLormous both in life and property, but I am glad to 
see that the larger communities are bending every effort 
to reduce it, and I trust that the smaller communities 
will profit by experience. 

The lesson taught by the San Francisco disaster, is 
that the American Engineer, Contractor and Manufac- 
turer have done much for future protection. The repre- 
sentatives of the insurance companies have discovered 
that it is possible to design and construct of fire proof 
materials buildings that would resist destruction by 
fire, but that it requires the best design, the best con- 
structioi!, and the best material, not one, but all in their 
united strength. The business men of San Francisco 
have demonstrated and assert that good construction 
pays; if it pays them it will pay us. Statistics show 
that the -experience of the sixty millionaire companies 
has been as follows: The actual loss by fire has been 
55.70 per cent, of the premiums; the expense of doing 
business, 30.40 per cent.; increase in liabilities, 4.91 per 
cent.; under-writing profit, 2.99 per cent. 

We see that the total under-writing profit is less than 
three i)er cent., and this may at any time be wiped out 
by conflagration losses like Baltimore and San Fran- 
cisco. 

As nn evidence that insnrance comi)nnios have a haz- 
ardous existence yon will note by I'eferiMice to Ihe in- 

76 



suraiico year book for 11)05, tluit t]i(\v ni-o comparntivcly 
short lived. 

Of the 550 coiiipaiiies doiiii;' business, on Jan. 1, 1!)0(), 
in the United States, there were only six foreign and 
three American companies Avhich have sui'^^ived for more 
than 100 years. Those that have snrviA'ed for fifty 
3^ears are more nnmerons, bnt they do not nnmber fif- 
ty. 

A Xew York anthority estimates that fnlly thirty com- 
panies will fail due to the San Francisco disaster. 

Keports for the last century show: From 1811 to 
1830 the insurance companies did not net three per cent. 
on the capital emploj^ed. 

From 1830 to 1850 the business showed a loss. 

From 1850 to 1902 the profit averaged only one-half of 
one per cent. 

A few companies have paid good dividends, but many 
have lost their capital and surplus and retired. 

Many people think that the surplus of an insurance 
company simj^ly represents j^rofit. The surplus of an 
insurance comj^any does not always represent profit. 
Experience shows that a surplus should be paid in at tlic^ 
beginning, to i)rovide for expenses and excessive losses. 

A company that does not add to its surplus in prosper- 
ous years cannot meet its losses in a disastrous one. 
A large portion of ever^^ company's asset must be set 
aside as a reserve for the unearned portions of the pre- 
mium. As a company's business increases its reserve 
must also be increased to meet the increased liability. 
Insurance is paid for in advance, for one, three or five 
years, and the actual cost to the companies is unknown 
until the policies expire. Although the premium re- 
ceipts constitute an asset, they may also create a liabil- 
ity, and profits must not be assumed simply because cur- 
rent receix)ts exceed current expenditures. 



77 



An insurance comi)any cannot start business simply 
witli a capital but must also have a surplus to coyer ex- 
penses and losses, for tlie laws of the various States 
Avould not permit a company to exist if it took one cent 
out of its capital tO' pay losses. 

Mutual companies are allowed by their own States to 
use twentj^-five per cent, of their capital to pay 
losses. The small profit on the large volume of 
business added to the profits of the investment feature 
of the business makes a successful insurance company 
but the profit derived solely from insurance would make 
insurance unprofitable in the long run. 

This Association can not expect (by itself) to remedy 
the existant evils, for the world has wrestled wdth the 
question for centuries and has given us what we have to- 
day. 

I am certain, how^ever, that as an Association we can 
do much for the prosperity and stabilit}^ of the nation 
hj standing for an intelligent improvement of the pres- 
ent conditions. 

Let us right now resolve, not by a vain and empty 
resolution, but b}^ an inw^ard, a personal determination, 
to act. 

We should stand for the upbuilding of a healthy pub- 
lic sentiment and use our best endeavors to the end that 
proper legislation may be had. 

The laws of each State should be alike, just to the in- 
surer and the assured. Tliere should be a standard in- 
surance polic}^, w^hich should clearly and concisely \)Vo- 
tect the rights of both parties. 

The insurance company should be bound so that it 
would pay to the insured a full indemnity for the actual 
value of the property totally or partially destroyed, and 
nothing more. 

In view of the fact that the moral hazard is an impor- 
tant feature of fire insni'anccs no man should be given 

78 



insurance for tlu^ full value of his property. The in- 
surance coin]^;niy can not watch each risk, but tlic ow n- 
er can; and should tlun-c^fore carry ])art of tlie risk. 

The three-fourths value clause or soinethin,!^- similar 
seems to me to be a necessity unless there shouhl be 
adequate ])ublic protection in the way of an oruaniz(Ml 
fire department and water works. 

The law should strictly i)rohibit over-insurance, and 
provide that for violation the assured and the local 
a,i>ent should be penalized alike. 

The insurance companies should be protected from 
fraudulent claims arising" from a false representation of 
the value of the property destroyed, and from the crjm- 
inal acts of the insured either directly done or indirectly 
connived at. 

The fire marshal law should be rigidly enforced and 
the law should rentles^ly pursue the man guilty of eith- 
er incendiarism or arson as being one of the greatest 
enemies both to the community and State. The mem- 
bers of this Association have it in their powder in their 
daily vocations to do much to reduce the pln^sical haz- 
ards. 

Our engineers can see that towns are properly laid 
out to lessen the conflagration hazard. 

They can aid in jiroperh^ paving and maintaining the 
streets so that our facilities for extinguishing fires may 
be used to the best advantage. They can demonstrate 
the advantage of intelligent design, faithful construc- 
tion, and the use of proper materials in all new con- 
struction. 

They can teach cities and towns how to properly de- 
sign and build their water works; inexperienced councils 
oftentimes find themselves with scant appropriations 
for these public necessities and what to themwould be an 
impossible problem you with 3^our skill and exi)erience 
can easily solve and provide a water system of ample ca- 



pacit}^, without neglecting tlie protection of health and 
the sanitary needs. Upon the contractor rests a resiDon- 
sibility that I am proud to say he has nobly met. 

The engineers well know that many of their cherished 
plans would have been hopeless failures but for the con- 
tractor. 

You with your organizations, and your Avell selected 
tools and appliances haye sayed communities thousands 
of dollars, and made seeming extravagances public ne- 
cessities. Upon 3^ou rests the responsibility to continue 
your efforts, and to honestly and truly build structures 
which shall stand the ravages of time and fire. 

Another and b}^ no means less responsibility rests up- 
on the manufacturer and the material men. Your 
names are rarely seen upon corner stones but to you an 
honor is due. The engineer may have wiselj^ planned, 
the contractor skillfully executed, but; you have made 
the labor saving tools, machinery and appliances. You 
have manufactured the raw materials and brought them 
finished and ready, for these many and enduring public 
works. It is said that a nation is judged by its public 
works. To the Engineer, the Oontractor, and the 
Manufacturer always revert the credit and the glory of 
The American Public Works. 

I would have you stand for the enactment and enforce- 
ment of just and equitable laws, the strict and faith- 
ful observance of an equitable contract. The careful 
and intelligent plans, skilful and honest construction 
and the use of the best materials in every structure. 

As has been well said by the New York Spectator: "In- 
surance can not evade or make good an actual property 
loss — ^^it only distributes tlie losses of the few among the 
many; and ])r(^inium raters are govc^rned in the h)ng run 
by tli(» ])ercentage of the (insured) i^roperty destroyed. 

n i('Iativ(Oy saf(^ conditions can be bi'ought about, and 
llie cliaiices of burning miuimiziMl, prcMuium ratios may 

80 



be ke])! within roasoiiablc limits. Public spirited citi- 
zens do well to tak(^ an active interest in the rednction 
of the fire hazard in their home cities, thns contnbntinjjj 
not only to rhcMr own wtdfare, bnt to that of all other 
residents and ])roi)erty holders." 

KILAIEMBEK! 

By your cd'forts yon can do mnch to rednce the enor- 
mons and useless fire waste and then the credit of the 
rednction of fire insnrance premiums will largely be dne 
to the American Public Works Association. 

W. F. WILCOX. 

(The paper vras received with applanse.) 



The Chairman: We have a commnnication from Col. 
Park Woodward. General Manager of the Atlanta 
Waterworks, which is an, invitation to visit the water- 
works system, and wMcli the secretary will now read. 
The Secretary read the following invitation: 

Atlanta, Ga., 
Sept. 14, 1906. 
American Pnblic Works Association, 

Atlanta, Ga. 
Gentlemen: 

Tlie Water Works Department welcomes you to the 
City of Atlanta, and extends an invitation to the mem- 
bers of your Association to visit and inspect tlie Water 
Works Shop, Pumping Stations and Filter Plants. 

Teiw truly yours, 

PAJ^K WOODWAED, 
General Manager. 
Mr. Eapp of the WaterAVorks System explained the 
details of transportation to and from the waterworks. 

The iuAitation to visit the water^^orks was unani- 
monsly accepted, and it was decided to go as soon as pos- 
sible after the session. Special cars were provided for 
the delegates, to be in waiting as soon as the ball game 

81 



was over, but it was informally decided by the delegates 
to go ill the regular cars, provided the meeting adjourn- 
ed before the arrival of the special cars. 

Judge George Hillyer, a former mayor of Atlanta and 
a former member of the Board of Water Commissioners, 
was seen in the audience and requested b}^ the President 
to address such remarks as he saw fit to the meeting, 
stating that the assemblage felt honored in having so 
distinguished a visitor. 

Judge Hillyer: "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, my pres- 
ence here this afternoon is purely due to accident; to me 
a happy accident, because I am quite an enthusiast in 
fact on public utilities, especially water works and as 
you correctly intimate, I was for many years connected 
with the Water Department o fthe Cit}^ of Atlanta as 
a member and most of the time as president of the 
Board of Water Commissioners. - Though I am not con- 
nected now with that department I have ne\er lost my 
love for and interest in it ; and I think there is one thing 
I can say that will possibly fortif}^ that, if it is needed. 
There is nothing new about it now, although it was new 
at one time with us. It was quite a matter of discus- 
sion and as old a man as I am, can say that our action at 
that time was a matter requiring considerable courage. 
I refer to the installation of meters in our water works 
system. Understand, I have nothing to do with meters 
or meter companies. I do not believe in graft or any- 
thing of that sort in the remotest degree, but wliile I 
was mayor of the city — onr mayor is a member of the 
water board — our superintendent, then Mr. Eichards, 
advocated meters and from the data he laid before me 
I became comdnced that the installation of meters 
would b(^ a wise tiling. I thiuk it is historically true 
tliat up to that time no city j)erliaps on either continent 
had adopted a universal system, that is, no city as large 
or a])|)r()xiuiate]y as large as Atlanta. My predecessor 

82 



in his adiuinistratioii had mado a contract for coal for 
the 3'ear be^i;inuin<>- in the year of my administration, 
basing- the quantity of coal contracted for on the experi- 
ence of the preceding j-^ears. The delivery of that coal 
began in March. We finished the installation of meters 
early in June, of that year. Now this is a historical fact 
that the coal contracted for by the previous administra- 
tion for one year's supph^, lasted all through my admin- 
istration as mayor — and our mayors are only allowed to 
stay there two years — all through the second 3^ear of 
that administration — and until July of the third year. 
(Ai>plause.) 

"Previous to the x>ntting in of meters we had been 
pumping on an average a little less than six million gal- 
lons of water a day but such Avas the waste into the sew- 
ers that did nobody any good that there was not pres- 
sure enough to throw^water even in the time of a five, 
with the demand on the pumping plant, into the third 
story of the general average of houses, and the fire de- 
partment from the open hydrant could hardly reach the 
second story of any houses on high levels. As soon as 
we installed meters and made it universal and got the 
system under better observation the pressure raised to 
such an extent that we could throw six or eight streams 
of water from the fire hj'drants over the top of the Kim- 
ball House and instead of pumping six million gallons a 
day we were onl}^ pumping one and a quarter millions. 
(A voice: How AA^as the revenue?) That is what I 
meant when I said it required some moral courage. 
This step was resisted and A^ehementh^ opposed by a 
great many. There was about a fourth of our consum 
ers who ordered the water stopped and returned to their 
Avells but in a little while they discovered that every- 
body had all the water they wanted and that the serAdce 
was more satisfactory. I suppose inside of six months 
they all came trooping back and pretty soon the con- 

83 



sumers increased so that I think the city suffered no sub- 
stantial decrease of revenue. Tliey adopted the mini- 
mum rate which was quoted without reference to quan- 
tity. Of course, those who are familiar with water- 
works will understand about that. It is not the best 
policy to let consumers be under too much temptation 
about economj^ They must use water enough to wash 
out the fixtures. Our rule was fiye thousand gallons a 
month at just the same price as five gallons, and our ex- 
perience is that five thousand gallons a month is just 
as much as we would usually use. It takes away all 
temptation to undue economy as it was compensated for 
at that rate. The revenue has ai isen until the water de- 
partment is a substantial contributor to the expenses of 
the city. It is growing and increasing constantly and I 
think now the revenue is $255,000 a year and when we 
put on these meters it was aboit |60,000. The growth 
has been rapid. 

"Let me tell you there would uot have been any Atlan- 
ta if it were not for this waterw^ ^rks, and I do not believe 
the waterworks could have been maintained without 
meters; if we were wasting as much in proportion to 
what we use now as to what we used then, we would 
have to be pumping from thirty to fort}^ million gallons. 
Now we are pumping only eleven million gallons. The 
city could not exist. 

"Our Avater problem is a specially difficult one. You 
will remember, in fact, that it comes entirely from the 
river, which is a stream six miles away. It is exceeding- 
ly muddy, being a stream that drains a red chiy country 
up in the mountains. In order to get fire pressure six 
Inindred feet of perpendicular water has to be lifted, 
and conveyed seven miU^s. Think of it. The waters of 
IIk^ ('ha( laliooclKM^ nvv made as cleai- niul linii)i(l as you 
see it on the labh^s Avhervver yon go, and raised six hun- 
dicd ('('('( and deliveicd in abnndance for a ])ric(^ that 



will (•()in])are favorably with cities located on river banks 
and at some ])laces like Detroit, where they do not have 
ji filtei* at all. They tried it for instance at Chicago, 
Avithin a lev(d of eleven feet from the river. The rate is 
a litttle less at Detroit, bnt not a|)[)reciably so. Our 
rate is ten cents per tlionsand gaHons when promptly 
paid, that is, the maxinmm rate. Xow for wholesale 
consnmers and lari^e consumers there is a sliding scale 
that rnns down ver}' near to actual cost, which is ap- 
proximately five cents per thousand gallons. It may 
be perhaps a little above or a little below. It has been 
some three years since I left the department in the way 
of a constant communication with it. Let me say fur- 
ther that there is not a body of men in America Avhose 
field is better in usefulness to their fellow citizens, and 
service to humanity than the Amei-ican Public Works 
Association and kindred societies, who are engaged in 
giving humanity the benefit of knowledge and progress 
in civilization." (Applause.) 

Mr. Crimmins: I move that the Association recog- 
nize the value of the remarks of Judge Hillyer by a ris- 
ing Tote of thanks. 

The motion was seconded by sereral members and, up- 
on the motion being put, the members adopted it unani- 
mously by immediately rising. 

It was then announced that cars would take the dele- 
gates upon the invitation of Col. Park Woodward, Gen- 
eral Manager of the waterw^orks system, from the Pied- 
mont Hotel to the plant for the purpose of inspecting it, 
but owing to the ball game these cars would be delay- 
ed. It was then decided inasmuch as cars ran every ten 
niinutes that upon adjournment the members would go 
out at once without waiting for the special cars, but 
would take the special cars returning. 

At this point a communication from Mr. H. C. Baker, 
of San Francisco, was read by the Secretary, at which 

85 



lie expressed his regrets at his absence and inability to 
attend the meeting. A similar one was read from Mr. 
J. E. Minter, of Macon, Ga. Upon motion, the Associa- 
tion adjonrned nntil nine o'clock of the second day. 



SEOOND DAY. 



Morning Session. 
September 15, 1906. 

The meeting was called to order at 10 :00 a. m., by Vice- 
President Huston; Secretary Flint at the desk. 

The Chairman: The first thing we have on hand is 
the report of the Committee on Enles. We Avill dis- 
pense with that and take np some of onr papers, if it is 
agreeable to you. 

AVe have "Engineering Fees," by Mr. Charles C. Wil- 
son. 

ENGINEEKWC FEES. 

Mr. Wilson: 

A well established and a well understood schedule of 
adequate fees for any professional service is as much in 
the interest of the emplo^dng public as the profession to 
which it applies. Poor pay generally means poor 
preach; and poor preach is about the most exj)ensive 
item which enters into the cost of any plant. 

This poor preach is not alwaj^s, or even generally, wil- 
ful neglect because the pay is small; but engineering is 
too difficult in acquirement, too taxing in its pursuit and 
commands too little popular acclaim to attract men of 
first-rate ability, for the mere love of the Avork; and, 
wherever engineering is not appreciated at its proper 
value, where there is sharp competition in fees, where 
eompensatJon is nncertain and irregiihir, men of force 
and genius inevitably drift into other callings wliich of- 
fer tliem adecjnate r(4iirns for th(4r efforts; and the pro- 
fession passes into I he hands of mediocrity. 

86 



Sometimes, liowevt^r, even under these unfavorable 
conditions, able men persist in practice, accei)tin*;- the 
low and uncertain 1'(h\s; but either losini; tlieir forc(^ ami 
ability in a few years by the disheartening- conditions, 
or finding means of supplementing their income in de- 
vious ways. There is perhaps no calling which offers 
bett(\r opi^ortnnities for safe grafting; there is none in 
which the public has less exact infcaniation; and none 
in which so large a pr()i)ortion of the work is covered np 
and out of sight. 

AMiile there are foAV Engineers, Contractors and 
Manufacturers who take advantage of these opportuni- 
ties, the Engineer, who habitually works for inadequate 
pay, is open, at least, to the suspicion of graft. And 
the community, which undertakes undue economy in 
engineering fees, is more than apt to have its funds 
wasted by extravagance, or misappropriated by dishon- 
esty. 

These general propositions will find ready assent in 
all quarters, but as to what constitutes adequate pay, 
there is a wide diversity of opinion, not only between 
the employing public, and the profession, but among 
Engineers, themselves. 

In this discussion, I attempt to outline a general 
schedule of fees, which will be fair and reasonable, and 
applicable to average conditions in general practice; but 
it should be understood at the outset, that no schedule 
can be demised which will properly cover every case that 
may arise, and individual Engineers should endeavor to 
merit and command such confidence from their employ- 
ers and fellow practitioners, as to be trusted to make a 
proper charge in exceiotional cases. 

AAljatever the scale of charges, there should be no 
competition among Engineers as to fees; their employ- 
ment should rest solely ui^on merit, or the personal 
preference of the employer. The fees should be uni- 

87 



form in all cases. This is not intended to apply to 
specialists and men of commanding position in the pro- 
fession, who should charge for their services in propor- 
tion to their reputation; but to the general practitioner 
only. 

The fees in every case should be sufficient to consti- 
tute the sole compensation of the Engineer; he should 
receive no pay except that which comes directly and 
above board from his client. There should be no indi- 
rect emoluments, either by smuggling clauses into his 
specifications, by which he is to have the appointment 
of the Contractor's foreman, and having them incident- 
ally act as his inspectors, nor by commissions, "rake 
offs," or favors of any kind from contractors or manu- 
facturers. 

They should be large enough to cover with a safe mar- 
gin the following items: 

1st. The emj)loyment of competent assistants, both 
on the field and in the office. 

2nd. The traveling expenses of the Engineer and his 
assistants. 

3rd. The employment of experienced inspectors. 

4th. A pro-rata share of the general expense of the 
Engineer's office. 

5th. The Engineer's personal services. 

Good and reliable work cannot be done without train- 
ed and experienced assistants, as instrument men, 
draughtsmen, and computors; and many offices employ 
several such men at higher salaries than are received by 
Llie average City Engineer. The averao'c cost of this 
item for assistants in surveys, and in the preparation of 
plans, taken from a considerable numbiu' of plants — 
mostly small, is, approximately, 1 per cent, of tlie total 
cost ol Oic plant. 



88 



Tlio inera<ie cost of travolinj;' expenses, for plants 
within r>\o lumdred miles of the lla^iiieer's ol'rtce, also 
closely ai)proxiniates 1 per cent. 

The cost of inspection differs so widely for difl'(Meiit 
classes of Avork, that no averao'e can be assnnied ni)()n 
whirh to base a flat rate, Avithont serions injnstice to 
some clients, on the one hand, or loss to the Enoineer, 
in some cases, on the other; for instance, the thoronjih 
inspection of a small water works or lightin^: plant Avill 
cost on an average of tAvo-thirds of 1 per cent., while 
the inspection of a small seAA^erage system will cost 
from 4 per cent, to 5 per cent. To meet this condition, 
it is necessary to either classify engineering works with 
a different scale of charges for each case, or to make 
special proA^ision in the schedule for resident inspectors, 
ors. 

The fourth item, the^Pro-Eata Share of General Ex- 
pense, is not so easily ascertained, but in offices where 
an accurate system of cost accounting obtains, it is gen- 
erally found that about one-fourth of the gross expens(^s 
cannot be assigned definitely to the several undertak- 
ings in hand, and must be carried in a general expense 
account. This general expense embraces such, items as 
office rent, fuel and lights, book-keeping, stenography, 
printing, stationery, postage, advertising, soliciting, 
travel for observation and studA ; bocks and periodicals 
and membership in the Engineering Societies; items 
AA'hich ar(^ necessary to a naggressive and successful 
practice. Although there is no data available, except 
as to a single office, this item is estimated at 1 per cent. 
of the gross cost of all the works handled dtiring the 
of the gross cost of all the works handled in the year. 

The personal service of the Engineer shotild be given 
to every piece of work that goes through his office; he 
shotild inA^ariably decline Avork to which he cannot give 
his indiA^dual attention. He is not running a factory 

89 



in wliicli liis output is limited only by the number of liis 
employees or the extent of his floor space, but is giving 
professional advice, which is supposed to be based upon 
his personal knowledge of the particular problem under 
consideration, and his own grasp of all the details in- 
volved. His capacity, therefore, is limited to such num- 
ber of plants a year as he can personally study. This 
will necessarily differ with different men and with diff- 
erent men and with different conditions, but again 
striJiing an average of men and conditions, which is nec- 
essarily a mere assumption, and considering the small 
plants usually built in the South, one office ought to be 
able to handle officiently in a year ^re hundred thous- 
and (1500,000.00) dollars w^orth of work. An engineer 
designing and controlling this amount of work should 
earn, clear of all exiDenses^ at least six thousand ((|6,- 
O00.00)dollars a year. When the attainments necessary 
to the practice of Eugineering and the responsibilit}^ 
involved are considered, that is, by no means, an ex- 
cessive figure, and is not so regarded by those business 
interests which employ experienced and trained En- 
gineers on a salary. This allowance would mae the fifth 
item, the Engineer's personal service, 1.2 percent. 

The total cost of Engineering work on average small 
I)lants is shown by the following: 

keoapitulatio:n'. 

1st. Assistants in field or office 1 per cent. 

2nd. Traveling expenses 1 per cent. 

3rd. Inspection 0.67 per cent. 

4th. General expenses 1 per cent. 

5tli. Engineer's personal services 1.2 per cent. 

Margin for contingencies 0.13 per cent. 

Total 5.00 per cent. 

AMiih^ it 1 1ms appears that the 5 i^er cent, commission, 
Avliich lias been so generally adopted, rests upon a fair 

90 



and reasonable basis for certain classes of T\'ork, it can- 
not be applied to all. Sewerage and drainage, for in- 
stance, cost, for proper inspection, from 4 to 5 per cent., 
and, if these are to be taken on a commission, it should 
be 10 per cent., or else 5 per cent, witli an extra charge 
to cover the salaries of all inspectors. 

Water power development and electric transmission 
are usually handled at 3 per cent., for what reason, it 
would be hard to say, unless it is their great cost. It 
would certainly seem that the difficult river surveys 
and giiagings, the search for data running through a 
long series of years, the intricate problems involved, the 
endless detail, and the extreme slowness of construc- 
tion, should put these undertakings on a parity, at least, 
with the comj^aratively simple water works plant. 

While 5 per cent, is generally considered a fair com- 
mission on small and medium plants, employers are very 
reluctant, and vrith some reason, to concede such a com- 
mission where the cost runs into the hundred of thous- 
ands dollars The expense of none of the five items 
enumerated above will bear the same relation to the cost 
of very expensive plants that it does to the small aver- 
age plants, and fairness demands that, if percentage fees 
are to prevail, they should be based upon a graduated 
scale, decreasing as the cost of the work increases. 

While the percentage system has been widely adopt- 
ed, it is open to some objections, the most important of 
which is, that it opposes the Engineer's interest to that 
of his client, in that the greater the cost of the work, 
the larger are the fees. There are few Engineers, it is 
true, who would wilfully make their clients spend one 
hundred dollars in order to make five dollars for them- 
selves; but it is not an unheard-of- thing for them to be 
charged with this; and it is a suspicion which may often 
arise in the clients mind. Xot once in a thousand 
times, perhai^s, does an Engineer consider his commis- 

91 



sion in tlie preparation of liis plan, but it is to be ques- 
tioned whether he is able to give absolutely impartial 
adyice as to the award between a yery low bidder and 
an average bidder; and there is room for doubt as to 
disinterestedness of his attitude towards extentions, 
extras and additions to the contract. Another weak- 
ness, which may be noted in passing, is the exceeding 
embarrassment of the Engineer when he comes to col- 
lect commissions on |60,000.00 of work, which he orig- 
inally estimated would cost $40,000.00. 

A fixed sum basis would, doubtless, be more satisfac- 
tory in mony respects, if it were possible to fix upon a 
schedule which could be well understood by the public, 
and wliich would insure uniformity of practice. This 
would free the Engineer at once of all interest in the 
cost of the work, except his client's interest, and would 
thus add to the weight of his opinion where cost is in- 
yolved. On the other hand, it would be difficult to pro- 
tect the Engineer against imposition in the growth of 
the client's ideas and demands as the work develops. 
Most Engineering works are projected on a much small- 
er scale than that on which they are ultimately execut- 
ed, often purposely so for political or financial reasons, 
but more frequently because the promoter has no con- 
ception of the necessities involved until they are de- 
veloped and pointed out by the Engineer. If, therefore. 
Engineers are employed at a stated sum, which is fixed 
at the outset, the fee is quite sure to be less than the 
magnitude of the word ultimately carried out would 
demand, unless he is shrewd enough to anticipate the 
probable growth of the project, in which case he will 
find it difficult to come to an agreement with his em- 
ployers, who, at this stage, have no idea that the under- 
taking will exceed their first conception. 

A Unit Price System of charges might be applicable 
to sonu^ si)ecial linos of work, as for instance, in Mill 

92 



Eii«:iiUHn'iii^-, Avhei'O the IVes are based \\\)on the iiiinibei- 
of spindles, and in liydro-electric Avork, Avhere t]i(\v nii.ulit 
be based upon the net liorse-power (U'veh)i)e(L IJiit the 
tiehl is too broad, the number of items too j^reat and 
the conditions too diverse to make any i)racti('al work- 
in<>- scale on this basis. 

The salary, or per diem, system, while perhaps the 
fairest of all, Avoiild not be satisfactory, in <ieneral ai)pli- 
cation, Xn ambitions and progressive men, as it would 
limit their oi)portunities too much. They could not af- 
ford to put themselves out of touch with the btisiness 
worhl while devoting their whole time to a single jiro- 
ject, nor could the smaller undertakings afford the 
necessarily increased engineering cost that this system 
would involve by reason of demanding the entire time 
of a Chief Engineer, either to do the work which, an 
assistant couhl do under liis direction, or idling while 
the assistant does it. The salary system, however, 
would meet one seriotis and important contingency, in 
which all other systems fail utterly, viz: Compensation 
for the Engineer during* the long and weary months 
that are dragged out after the date set for completion. 
The owner is generally protected in these delays by 
forfeiture or liquidated damage clauses in the construc- 
tion contract, but the Engineer usually has to pocket 
his loss and look pleasant. Whatever basis is adopted 
for the fees, it should be understood and provided that 
all of the Engineer's expenses and reasonable per diem 
for each visit, after the date set for completion, are to 
be paid, and this should be figured into the forfeitures 
or liquidated damages which the contractor is to pay to 
the owner. 

All things considered, the percentage basis seems 
to offer the only practicable scheme for a uniform 
schedule of fees. In the allied profession of Architec- 
ture, it is sanctioned by universal practice, established 

93 



in confidence by ages, and snstained by tlie Courts of 
every land; and Engineers cannot do better than to 
follow this system, with necessary modifications. 

The following schedule is, therefore, submitted as be- 
ing fairly remunerative to the Engineer, just to the 
client, elastic enough to meet every case in general i3rac- 
tice, and simple enough to be generally understood. 

Full professional services, including general super- 
vision : 
For work costing |100,000.00, or less .... 5 per cent. 

For work costing more than |100,000.00: 

For the 1st $100,000.00 5 percent. 

For the 2nd |100,000.00, or fraction 

thereof 4 per cent. 

For the 3rd f 100,000.00 or fraction 

thereof 3 per cent. 

For the 4th |100,000.00 or fraction 

thereof 2 1-2 per cent. 

For tlie 5th f 100,000.00, or fraction 

thereof 2 per cent. 

For the next f 250,000.00, or fraction 

thereof 11-2 per cent. 

For all cost in excess of f 750,000.00 .... 1 per cent. 

Payments to be made during the i)rogress of the work 
in tlie following ratio: 

On completion of the preliminary surveys, estimates 
and reports, 20 per cent, of the entire fees. 

On completion of the plans and specifications, ready 
for bids, 30 i:)er cent, of the entire fees. 

On the award of general contracts, and the comple- 
tions of all details; 20 per cent, of the entire fees. 

The balance in installments, as may be agreed upon. 

All necessary traveling ex])enses of the Engineer and 
his assistants to be paid by the client. 

Th(^ actual salaries of all resident Engineers, Inspec- 
tors and Assistants, when such are necessary during 

94 



constriictioii, to be diarized for in addition to the above 
fees. 

These fees are not to cover services incidental to ne- 
gotiations for right-of-way, water rights, franchises or 
damage snits. AVhen suck sen^ices become necessaiw, 
tliey are to be charged for in prox)ortion to the time 
and expense involved. 

Nor do these charges cover services required for the 
completion of the work by day-labor, or otherwise, in 
case of abandonment or failure of contractors; nor do 
they cover inspections and consultations after the date 
fixed in the construction contract for completion. 
rro])er clauses must be inserted in the building con- 
tracts, making all expenes of the Engineer, and a rea- 
sonable per diem for each visit after the date set for 
completion apar-t of the liquidated damages or forfeit- 
ure for non-completion on time. 

Chas. C. Wilson. 

Mr. Wilson's paper was received witk applause. 

Mr. Wilcox. — I think the old joke a.bout covering 
pipe would be applicable to that, reducing in scale. A 
fellow might appropriate a million and save the En- 
gineer's fee altogether. You might have to pay a man 
to make analysis, if it is water filtering plant. You can 
make a rougk estimate of expense on small work, but 
v/hen you come to from one hundred to three hundred 
thousand dollars you have got to give those matters a 
good deal of experimental study, and that experimental 
study is going to cost you a great deal of time. In En- 
gineering work if you get it down to one or two per 
cent, you will find that you are suffering a loss, I don't 
care bow big it is. Another thing is that the larger a 
job is the scarcer those jobs are, and the longer number 
of years you will have to study and work to become 
proficient enough to handle the job, and the man that is 
strong enougli to handle big jobs knows enough to save 

95 



ills clients enough money to pay tlie four or five ijer 
cent. I would not toucli a piece of work for that for 
anybody, I don't care how big it is. I would consider it 
a donation to them, and I cannot afford to do it. 

Mr. Wilson : The schedule I proposed did not contem- 
X^late a charge of one per cent. You would get five per 
cent, on the first, and soi on. In addition to that you 
would get all trayeling expenses. It would be yer}^ near- 
J}'^ as good as five per cent. I have said nothing about 
analyses or things of that sort, because we are not gen- 
erally expected to provide that. I have never been re- 
quested to stand that cost. It was always understood by 
the clients that they would pay that. 

Mr. Wilcox: I did not understand you to say that you 
made provision for ^ye per cent., and for the resident 
engineers and inspectors in addition. My idea was that 
you would charge ^Ye per cent, and then slide it down. 

Mr. Wilson: 'No, ^Ye per cent, for all sendee, includ- 
ing supervision and any resident engineers you might 
have for the work. I have found in my own contracts 
it is very hard, even on a small sewerage job, to get 
people to consent to ten per cent., but they are perfectly 
willing to pay five per cent., and would be willing to pay 
salaries of the inspectors, but they kick on ten per cent, 
like everj^thing, and it is ver}^ seldom that they will agree 
to it. 

The Chairman: We have with us Mr. William B. King, 
of the firm of George A. and William B. King, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, who will iDresent a paper on "Legal Pit- 
falls." 

LEGAL PITFALLS. 
Mr. King: 

It is unfortunate that the intelligent business man 
who has had ex])erience with the law is not always in- 
cliiied to agree with Blackstone\s saying that the laAV is 

96 



the perlVctioii of reason and that what is not reason is 
not law. 

It must be admitted that a prudent and honest man, 
dealing- witli complicated affairs, sometimes cannot sat- 
isfy himself that the decisions of the courts are reasona- 
ble or just. Occasionally he seems to have stepped into 
some pitfall of the law apparently spread to catch all 
but tlie Avariest of travelers. Careful analysis of these 
decisions will ^^enerally show that the trouble arises 
from some conflict of two contending principles and the 
diflicuty of adjusting them. 

This paper will not attempt to show the reasons which 
are said to justify, or which actually justify, results 
apparently unjust to one party. Its object will be to 
point out some dangers which honest contractors have 
unexpectedly encountered with loss to themselves, and 
thus suggest precautions for the future 

DISABILITIES OF FOEEIGN CORPORATIONS. 

Many contracts for public works are undertaken by 
corporations. Perhaps this would be wisest in all cases. 

A corporation created b}^ the laws of one State is 
known in ever^^ other State as a foreign corporation. 
Most of the States have provided that no foreign corpor- 
ation shall do business in the State until it has comi^lied 
with certain formalities, such as establishing an oMce in 
the State, appointing an agent for the transaction of its 
business, or registering the corporation, its office or its 
agent, or filing a copy of its charter in the State or Couu- 
t}' archives. One of the legal pitfalls easiest to entrap a 
contracting corporation is its failure to comply with such 
laws of the State in which it proposes to do business. 

Such a law exists in the State of Tennessee. A foreign 
cor])oration is required not only to file in the office of the 
Secretary of the State a copy of its charter, but an ab- 
stract of this must be recorded in the register of each 

97 



county in wliicli it proposes to carry on its business. A 
lumber company furnislied lumber for building a house 
for a married woman in Shelby county, Tennessee. She 
failed to pay for the lumber and the company proceeded 
to secure the benefit of a law of the State permitting it 
to give proper notice and regain possession of its lumber. 
The defense was that the lumber company was a foreign 
unregistered corporation. Although it was shown that a 
very few months after the transaction occurred the com- 
pany had been registered, the Supreme Court of Tennes- 
see held that up to the date of its registration in Shelby 
county it had no right or standing as a plaintiff before 
the courts and could not obtain the benefits of the stat- 
utes under which it was seeking relief. Gary-Lombard 
Lumber Oo. v. Thomas, 22. S. W. 743; 92 Tenn. 587. 

Shortly after that a land company organized in Ken- 
tucky sued a Tennessee lumber company in Tennessee 
for an accounting of business done in Tennessee. The 
registration law of Tennessee had not been complied 
with and the lumber company was declared not entitled 
to obtain an accounting at all since it had no legal exis- 
tence in Tennessee. Cumberland Land Co. v. Canter Lum- 
ber Co., 35 S. W. 886. 

A well-known contractor says in the "Engineering 
World" of July 27, 1906, that his failure to register his 
corijoration in Pennsylvania required the most diplo- 
matic management to avoid his losing many thousands 
of dollars on a railroad contract in that State. 

It is true that in some States the law is not applied so 
strictly as in these cases, and that where a contract has 
been executed and the consideration passed the foreign 
corporation is permitted to assert and secure its rights. 
Even in such States a foreign corporation Avhich liad not 
complied with the State laws could not sue for damages 
for breach of a contract not yet performed. 

Cojiti'acting co]'])orations must, tlierofore, he on (lieir 

98 



guard before beginning bu-siness in any State, to comply 
with the corporation hnvs of the State; otherwise the 
legal pitfall confronts tlieni tliat in case of dispute they 
may be dexu'ived of all opportunity of protection by the 
courts. 

A^ ANT OF AUTHORITY. 

In the opposite direction, a like danger threatens in 
the execution of a contract by an officer or representative 
of a contract by an oflicer or representative of a munici- 
l>al corporation or a State or of the United States, who 
has no power to bind his principal. 

A distinguished judge has recently said that officers of 
the United States in their official capacity are si)ecial 
agents acting within legalh^ iDrescribed limitations 
{Houser v. United States, 39 0. Cls. 522), a doctrine 
equalh' ai)plicable to States and municipal corporations 
and, in a less degree, to private corporations. 

It hardly seems necessaiy to remind contractors of a 
rule of law so elementary as this against which they 
must uniformly take x^recautions to guard themselves, 
yet the law books are full of cases where contractors 
have found pitfalls by reason of this rule. 

An illustrative case occurred in Massachusetts about 
ten 3'ears ago. The aldermen of the city of Cambridge 
authorized their committee on j)ublic property to adver- 
tise for proposals for a school building and to contract 
for its erection within a certain sum. The committee 
contracted for this sum, but finding some additional elec- 
tric work needed, obtained a bid from the Boston Elec- 
tric Light Company and ordered the work done. The Su- 
preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts declared (Boston 
Electric Light Co. v. City of Cambridge, 39 N. E. 787) 
that the authority of the committee was exhausted by its 
original contract and that it had no authority to order 
extras, saying that "the plaintiff was bound to ascertain 
- , 99 



and take notice of the extent and the limitations of the 
power of the committee to bind the city," and that "the 
acceptance and use of the bnilding by the city do not 
bind it to pay for extra, unauthorized work done upon it, 
though the same is beneficial." 

The court was so deeply impressed with the substantial 
merit of the claim made in the case that the opening 
sentence of the opinion was as follows: "The claim of 
the plaintiff in this case is so meritorious that we regret 
that the rules of law do not allow a recovery of the 
amount claimed." 

This was certainly a legal pitfall for the contractor. 

In the State of Missouri, the same principle was encom- 
passed by the proper municipal board of Kansas City 
authorizing the paving of certain streets, and a contract 
for the work was made and performed. When the work 
was finished and the contractor tried to enforce the lia- 
bilit}^, first of the property owners benefited, and then of 
the cit}^, he was refused any redress because of a defect 
in the form in which the ordinance was passed. He 
therefore lost the entire amount invested by him in the 
contract. Keating v. City of Kansas, 71 Mo. 417. The 
court said as to his duty in this respect: "Keating was 
bound to take notice, at his peril, of the defective ordi- 
nance when dealing with the affairs of the defendant, 
and cannot urge against the city in this suit such defects 
or want of power in such officers. The requirement of 
the charter in such cases is the only touchstone of cor- 
porate liability." 

Many more illustrations miglit be obtained from the 
reports of actual cases where contractors have suffered 
heavy losses and municipal corporations have received 
great benefits because the person making tlie contract 
has been without i)roi:)er authority to bind the corpora- 
tion. 

Th(^ Supreme Court of the United States has Ihus ex- 

100 



pressed the rule on tliis subject (Whiteside v. I'liiled 
States, 93 U. S. 257): 

"The <>overuineiit or i)ul)lie autliority is not bound in 
such a case, nnless it manifestly appears that the a^'ent 
was actino- Avithin the scope of his authority, or that he 
had b(HMi ludd out as having authority to do the act, or 
Avas employed in his cai)acity as a public agent to do 
the act or make the declaration for the oovernment. 



* 



"Individuals as well as courts must take notice of the 
extent of authority conferred by law upon a person act- 
ing- in an official capacity, and the rule applies in such, a 
case that ignorance of the law furnishes no excuse for 
any mistake or wrongful act." 

Contractors must beware of the pitfalls ready for them 
through want of authority of the agent with whom they 
contract. 

DOIXG AYOKK BEFOEE APPROVAL OF CONTRACT. 

The contractor is not out of danger even after he is 
sure that the officer with w^hom he deals has full author- 
it}' to make the contract. Many contracts for public 
works require the ultimate approval of a superior officer 
or tribunal before the contract becomes a finality. This 
is especially true in the highly centralized system pre- 
vailing in most of the bureaus of the United States gov- 
ernment. However formal may be the contract in detail, 
the courts have declared that there is no legal contract 
in existence until after the approving officer has signed 
it. Here is a pitfall into which contractors have fallen. 

A contract for work on the Illinois and Mississippi 
Canal was signed by the contractor and by the local offi- 
cer in charge, and was sent to the Chief of Engineers for 
his approval. The contractor, anxious to do his work 
promptly, immediately expended some thousands of dol- 
lars in his preparations. After a considerable delay he 

101 



was notified that the Chief of Engineers had refused to 
approve the contract. He sued for all the expenses which 
he had incurred on the faith of the signature of the con- 
tract by the subordinate officer. The Supreme Court of 
the United States declared that he could not recover 
what he had expended. Monroe v. United States, 184 U. 
S. 524. 

This contractor had found the pitfall. 

When the contract was signed by a subordinate officer 
for building the Naval Observatory at Washington, a 
long delay ensued before the Secretary of the Navy ap- 
proved it. In the meantime the contractor had prepared 
his plant at much expense and incurred heavy losses by 
reason of the delay in the approval. He claimed that he 
was entitled to compensation for these losses, but the 
Court of Claims declared that he had no contract with 
the United States until the Secretary of the Navy had 
approved it and consequently could recover no damages 
for his losses prior to the contract coming into legal 
existence. McLaughlin v. United States, 37 C. Cls. 186. 

These are both hard cases, because the contractor's dil- 
igence was the cause of his losses. 

EXTRA WOUK. 

Contractors have found many hidden pitfalls in extra 
work. All engineering contracts contain provisions in 
some form that no obligation for extra work shall be 
incurred unless ordered in a particular manner. Even 
without such provisions, there may be a legal limitation 
of the authority to order extra work. Some actual cases 
will illustrate the dangers incurred in departing from 
the original contract. 

The Government made a contract to build a Ignited 
States court lionse at Kaleigli, North Carolina, providing 
til at there should bo no departure from its conditions 
without the written consent of the Secretary of the 

102 



Treasury. The stone re(iuired by Llie conlnicL and of- 
fered by the contractor was not good enough to suit the 
taste of the superintendent, and he ordered better stone. 
The contractor, viewing him as the immediate represen- 
tative of the Secretary of the Treasur)^, furnished the 
better stone, stating that he should expect additional 
pay. He relied upon the goodness and greatness of the 
United States Government as a guarantee against its 
obtaining the benefit of better materials under such au- 
thorit}' A\ithout paying for it. The Treasury Department 
refused to pay and the Court of Claims and Supreme 
Court of Claims and Supreme Court of the United States 
sustained the Department. Thus the contractor discoA^- 
ered an unexpected pitfall through relying on the very 
officer selected to represent the Govrnment in the erec- 
tion of this building. The hardship of the conditions so 
appealed to Congress that by prosecuting a private relief 
bill before both houses of Congress, he finally obtained the 
money which the courts had denied to him (21 Stat. L. 
636). Hawkins v. United tSates, 96 U. S. 689. 

In constructing the Vermont Central Kailroad many 
years ago, extra w^ork was found necessary in a quick- 
sand. The contract said that there should be no claim 
for extra work unless it was done under a written con- 
tract or on an order signed by the engineer in charge. 
He verbally ordered the work done; the contractors de- 
clined to do it unless they were paid extra; the subordi- 
nate engineer in immediate charge told them that they 
should have extra pay. They did the work and the court 
said that they could not recover the extra j)aj refused 
by the company. Yanderwerker v. Vermont Central K. 
R, 2 TVt. 130. 'No more ingenious pitfall could have been 
dug than this. 

In this case, the work was done for a corporation and 
something may be said as to the want of power of an un- 
authorized agent to bind the corporation to pay for 

103 



extras. The Supreme Court of Maryland went a step fur- 
ther and said under a contract between indiiA^duals pro- 
viding that no extras should be charged unless under a 
written agreement, that "it makes no difference if the 
extra work was ordered by the owner'' himself. Abbott 
y. Gatch, 13 Md. 315. 

The contract for building the Chicago Post Office pro- 
vided that no extras should be allowed unless authorized 
in writing by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury 
with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The 
Supervising Architect, having his office under the same 
roof with the Secretary of the Treasury and presumably 
acting with his approval, ordered certain extras by let- 
ter from his office in Washington. These extras went in- 
to the building and the Government had the benefit of 
them. They could not be taken out by the contractor. 
The Court of Claims held that no presumption of ap- 
proval by the Secretary of the Treasury could be recog- 
nized; that his approval must be affirmatively shown; 
that the Supervising Architect had acted apparently 
upon his own responsibility, and that the Government 
should have the benefit of the contractor's extra work 
without paying for it. This contractor, relying upon the 
order of the Secretary's personal associate — not upon the 
order of a local superintendent — thus found a legal pit- 
fall which could hardly have been anticipated. He fell 
into it and lost his money. Hyde v. United States, 38 Cu 
Cls. 549. 

These are only a few of many cases, illustrating by sad 
experiences the dangers surrounding extra work. 

GENELRAL AUTHORITY OF ENGINEER. 

No otlior subject affords so many oi)portunities for 
legal i)itfalls as the unlimited discretion of the engineer. 
As engineering contracts have increased in complexity, 
the tendency of all forms of coiitrjict hns Ixmmi <(> i>lnce 

104 



o 




more iind mure iiuLliurity in the liauds of the suxjeriuteu- 
cleut, eugiueer or iuspector. The manuer aud order of 
executing the contract, the measurement of quantities, 
the detenninatiou of qualities, the settlement of dis- 
puted questions of construction — the whole measure of 
the contractor's liabilit}^ — is made to dejiend upon the 
determination of the engineer. Of what use are elabor- 
ate and detailed specifications when their plain provis- 
ions may be set aside bv the engineei*'s declaration that 
he construes them in his oavu wa}^? This system reduces 
the contract, no matter how fonnally and precisely writ- 
ten ,to dependence upon the mere will of the engineer. 

If the engineer in charge of the work occupied an 
unbiased position as an unprejudiced rei)resentatiye of 
both parties, this method of settling disputes w^ould have 
the prime merit of promptness and would not be unjust. 
If all engineers or superintendents were men of great 
ability, endowed with the judicial temperament and a 
lofty sense of professional standards, not susceptible to 
personal prejudice against an injudicious or irritating 
though honest contractor, their decisions might be a 
happy relief from the possibilities of endless litigation in 
courts. 

Unfortunately, the engineers are the paid employees of 
the owner, responsible to him alone, answerable to liim 
for the saying of money, and sometimes yery willing to 
benefit their principal at the expense of the contractor. 
In some cases, indeed, the engineer in charge of the work 
has neither the experience nor the judgment of the con- 
tractor whose work he is to criticize and direct. Some- 
times mere bad temper is a controlling factor in the exer- 
cise of unlimited power. 

These conditions are ideal for legal pitfalls. The con- 
tractor construes the specifications one way when he 
"^^ids; the engineer giyes them a new reading when the 
work is done. The contractor offers materials which 

105 



have stood the test of actual experience; the engineer 
rejects them on the authority of the latest theoretical 
text-book. Many a contractor has faced, and some have 
met, ruin, through just such conditions. Appeals to the 
courts have amounted to but little, for the courts declare 
that when the parties have agreed that the judgment of 
the engineer shall be conclusive, such an agreement is 
binding upon them and must be enforced. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has strongly 
upheld this doctrine under conditions where the judg- 
ment of the officer charged with the determination was 
absolutely wrong and the result was a proved injustice. 

In 1878 a contract was made for transporting military 
supplies from points on the Kansas Pacific Railway to 
various Western posts by team. The contractor was to 
be paid according to the number of miles traveled, the 
distance to be fixed by the chief quartermaster of the 
district. It was shown in court that some of the dis- 
tances fixed by him were less than the air-line distances 
between the points. The Supreme Court of the United 
States said that the mathematical demonstration of this 
error did not permit the contractor to recover for the cor- 
rect length of haul, since he had agreed to accept the dis- 
tances as found by the chief quartermaster. Kihlberg v. 
United States, 97 U. S. 398. 

This legal pitfall was one which the most careful con- 
tractor could hardly be expected to guard against. 

A recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States H eclares that the same sort of a pitfall is still 
legal. A contract of the Engineer Department provided 
for rock excavation in the Louisville and Portland Canal. 
In case of delays by force of the elements, such addi- 
tional time was to be allowed as in the judgment of the 
officer in charge should be just and reasonable. Delays 
occurred by force of tlie elements and the officer made his 
allowance. The contractors (daimed that more time was 

106 



lost by this cause tluan was alloAved by the officer and 
proved their additional loss of time to tlie satisfaction 
of the Conrt of Claims. The findiuo- of this fact by the 
Conrt of Claims is bindin^^ npon the Supreme Conrt of 
the United States. That tribunal declared that in its 
judgment tliis fact made no difference. The contract, 
they said, put it within the power of the Engineer Officer 
to fix the time lost by force of the elements, and his de- 
tei-mination, though proved to have been wrong, must 
govern tlie rights of the parties. Gleason vs. Ignited 
States, 15 U. S. 607. 

Here was a simple fact easily susceptible of proof. 
Was there Avas no exercise of technical judgment in de- 
termining it and no reason why one party should decide 
the rights of the other. The unfortunate contractors fell 
into a pitfall which neither they nor any one else could 
have anticipated and lost nearly $70,000 which would 
have been theirs except for this error of the Engineer. 

It is true that the courts have repeatedly laid down 
that there may be exceptions to this rule, limited to 
cases where the officer was guilty of bad faith, or made 
a "mistake so gross as to necessarily imply bad faith.'' 
The history of litigation nnder such contract provisions 
shows almost no cases w^here the officers' discretion has 
been in fact limited by such exception. 

The danger involved in these discretionary powers 
where contractor or officer is corrupt has been illustrated 
in the noted Green and Gaynor case at Savannah, Ga. 
Here the contract provided for alternative methods of 
construction in building jetties. The contractor might 
be called upon by the Engineer for either of two methods, 
one much cheaper than the other. The favored contrac- 
tors had an nnderstanding with the officer in charge 
that they would be required to construct these in the 
cheaper form. Other contractors bidding had to take 
the risk of being called upon to build in the more expen- 

107 



sive form. The fayored contractors secured tlie contract 
at a j)rice far too Mgii for the cheaper form of construc- 
tion and were allowed to complete their work in this 
form. The work cost the government more than it 
should and both contractors and engineer haye been con- 
yicted of fraud upon the goyernment. 

Certainty should be the first element of contracting, 
^'either party gains by yagueness and obscurity or by the 
yesting of unlimited discretionary powers in the engin- 
eer. Whatever else is done by this Association, it will 
earn the confidence and gratitude of all the contractors 
of the country if some form of contract can be adopted 
whereby contractors on public works will be relieved 
form absolute dependence upon the unlimited discretion 
of such officer or engineer as the municipal corporation, 
State or United States may choose to put in charge of 
the work. 

THE BRIGHTER SIDE. 

The title of this i)aper shows that its x3urpose is to set 
forth difficulties which contractors may unexpectedly 
meet by reason of settled rules of law. The courts are 
not anxious to enforce injustice under the operation of 
such rules, and in some of the opinions in the cases cited 
have expressed their regret that settled rules of law 
compelled an inequitable decision. 

Very often such decisions have been avoided by limit- 
ing the application of the one-sided i^rovisions of engin- 
eering and building contracts to their narrowest possi- 
ble meaning. A few instances of this showing how the 
courts have kept the contractors out of legal pitfalls 
may close this paper. 

The United States Tost Office Bnilding, at Washing- 
ton, D. C, was erected under a contract providing that 
if materinls were omitted or added there sliould bo a 
"dcMluclion" oi* "juhlilion" of price at market rates, these 

108 



to be determined by the Supervisiug' Architect of tlie 
Treasury. Ills decision, the contract said, shouUl be 
final. The contract specified certain uses of Vermont 
marble. By agreement of tlie parties Tennessee marble 
was substituted, but the deduction in price was not fixed 
in the new agreement. The Supervising Architect made 
a deduction which the contractors disputed. The gov- 
ernment contended in court that the decision of the 
Supervising Architect was final. The Court of Claims 
said that the provision of the contract already cited must 
be limited stricth^ to its terms and that in this case there 
had been no "omission" or "addition" of materials, but a 
"substitution." Consequently the contractor was at lib- 
erty to show by any available proof the value of the ma- 
terial furnished by him. 

This discrimination is very refined since a substitution 
is nothing more than an omission of one material and an 
addition of another, but the court felt itself justified in 
making the discrimination because a i)lain case of injus- 
tice was presented. This it felt bound to correct nnless 
the terms of the contract literally forbade the correction. 
Woarms vs. United States, 39 C. Cls. 22. 

Another very recent case showing a similar disposition 
on the part of the courts recently arose nnder the con- 
tract for building the battle-ship "Indiana." Long delays 
were caused by the government for which an extension 
of time was granted. The Cramp Shii3-Building Company 
claimed in addition to this, heavy damages on account of 
the delays. The United States opposed the Company's 
suit in the Court of Claims on the ground that npon the 
payment a release had been executed by the Company, 
as reqnired by the contract, forever discharging the 
United States from all debts and "demands whatsoever 
in law or in equity for or by reason of or on account of 
the construction of said vessel under the contract afore- 
said." Cramp vs. United States, 41 C. Cls. 

This provision certainly seems as broad as legal inge- 

109 



nuity could devise, yet the gross injustice of its effect 
was so apparent to tlie Court of Claims that the court 
said that this release did not cover a claim of damages 
arising out of a breach of the contract, the release being 
of all claims for damages growing out of the perform- 
ance of the contract. Thus the Court of Claims was 
acute in finding a technical discrimination upon which it 
might do substantial justice to the aggrieved contractor. 

CONCLUSION. 

It has not been possible within the limits of this paper 
either to point out all the pitfalls which await contractors 
or to show why the courts have to render severe decis- 
ions which seem injustice from the contractor's stand- 
point, or to show all the conditions under which the 
courts have granted relief. Enough has been said to ex- 
hibit very clearly: 

(1.) That every word of a complicated contract must 
be examined with every care for lurking possibilities of 
danger. 

(2.) That where controversies actually arise over the 
construction of the contracts the courts mil generally 
be bound by the agreement as written. 

(3.) That unless restrained by positive rules of law 
the courts will try to avoid positive injustice. 

The discussion indicates that very great value of an 
Association like this which aims to secure a form of 
contract, just alike to both parties, without hidden pit- 
falls operating to the disadvantage of either. 
Respectfull}'' submitted, 

WM. B. KING. 



Mr. King's paper was received with i)rolonged 
applause. 

The Chairman: Legal pitfalls are mighty bad things, 
and all my hair came out in onc^ of them in about two 

no 



months. 1 lliiiik we made u mistake in appointin*; that 
Committee on [Tniform Contracts, and that it ouoht to 
be seven instead of five, and that Mr. King and Mr. Dodd 
ong'ht to be on that committee. 

A Member. — I moA'e that the names of the Committee 
be read. 

The Chairman. — The Secretary will read the names of 
the Committee on Uniform Contracts. 

The Secretary. — The Committee on Uniform Contracts 
is as follows: George O. Tenney, Edward J. OBeirne, 
Charles C. Wilson, W. F. A^'ilcox, J. S. Slicer. 

A Member. — I move that we add to that Committee 
Mr. Dodd and Mr. King. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Mr. Crimmins: Mr. President, I move w^e extend a vote 
of thanks to Mr. King for his very able paper by a rising 
vote. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

The Chairman: I have prepared a paper on "Contracts 
Let as a Whole'' which I will ask Mr. Fair Dodd to read 
for me. 
Gentlemen : — 

When your Executive Committee requested me to 
prepare this article it first appeared to me to be a "good 
thing," especially for the contractors and engineers, and 
I began to collect my data for the purpose of advocating 
its introduction into public works lettings. I sent to 
one hundred members of the Association the following 
request: "You will confer a favor if you will kindly 
Avrite me your preference for letting "contracts as a 
whole" or "separate," using the attached card. Please 
state in as few w^ords as possible your reasons." 

When the replies began to return I soon realized the 
fact, contractors and engineers were not the only ones 
vitally concerned, but the manufacturers had their pref- 
erence, and in stating their reasons I w^as convinced that 

111 



tlieir statements had a great deal of merit, and the ques- 
tion of ^^Letting Contracts as a Whole" or "Separate" 
was still nnanswered. 

I desire to acquaint you with a few facts contained in 
their replies. About 85 per cent, of the contractors and 
engineers prefer "Contracts Let «s a Whole,, and give 
for their reasons the following: 

(1.) Municipalities are better seryed because it invites 
a better class of bidders. 

(2.) Confines^ the responsibility to one contractor for 
the complete job. 

(3.) Completes the work within the specified time. 

(4.) Eelieves the engineers of a large amount of work 
necessaril}^ involved where work is let separately. 

(5.) Elimination of friction between different con- 
tractors on one contract. 

(6.) The control of the labor situation. 

(7.) Prevents manufacturers from becoming sub-con- 
tractors. 

(8.) Insures prompt and proper construction. 

(9.) The work will cost less. 

(lO.)Prevents delays on account of imprompt delivery of 
materials or machinery by the manufacturers. 

(11.) City does business with one contractor and cuts 
out a whole lot of irresponsible parties from bidding. 

(12.) When contracts are let as a Avhole for a lump 
sum, extras are reduced to a minimum. 

(13.) A uniform scale of wages. 

(14.) 'No dispute with reference to commencing point 
or ending point of contract. 

(15.) A definite pay day. 

Owing to a small percentage of engineers and contrac- 
tors favoring contracts "let se])arately," I will give tlieir 
r(^as()ns jointl.y with mannfactnrers. 

(1.) Til is is a day of llie si)ecialist and a coiu'orn Avhich 
d(^\'(>l('s niosi of lis 1iin(^ and (MK^rgy to a "i>:ir(icnlnr iiro- 



duct, cannot onl}' i)r()(lnce a product of liii;]icr quality 
but can alTord to market it cheaper. 

(2.) The manufacturer can deliver liis nuichinery, su- 
perintend the erection, for less than the general contrac- 
to]*, thus savinj*" the city money. 

(;>.) laiit prices <>oyern adjustment. 

(4.) If the machinery is bought direct by consumer 
the general contractor has no interest in the price or re- 
sponsibility regarding the efficiency of the machinery or 
payment for the same. 

(5.) Tlie city is best served when it buys machinery 
direct from the manufacturer or its agents. 

(6.) The city will secure better prices on materials 
and the contractor is more secure in the matter of good 
percentage of i^rotit. 

(7.) It is better for manufacturers to deal direct with 
purchasers should it be necessary to change the specifi- 
cations. 

(8.) Owing to the number of irresponsible contractors 
in tlie field not worthy of credit or confidence and who 
use prices as a club over competitors, in order to get 
lower }) rices, which is demoralizing to the trade, it is de- 
sirable to deal direct with the city. 

(9.) ^fanufacturers will have a fair shomng by dealing 
direct, whereas, if they bid through contractors and work 
with one contractor, although they may be the lowest 
bidder, they Avill lose the work if some other contractor 
works vritli a competitor. 

(10.) Manufacturers should not have final settlements 
held np until the entire work is completed, when they 
have finished their work complete and satisfactory. 

(11.) The purchaser is better served when, contracts 
are let "separately," because the general contractor will 
ahvays bid on the cheapest material or machinery when 
the city should get the best. 

(12.) As a rule the general contractor makes a botch 
of erecting machinery in spite of the consulting engineer. 

113 



(13.) Bidding to general contractors may result in the 
manufacturer not having a bid in at all. Some contrac- 
tors may use the price to get the job and then trade 
aroTind for a cheaper grade afterwards. 

(14.) Some contractors have not enough money to 
swing tJie job, depend on payments from the city, and if 
their estimate is held up due tO' inferior work or any 
other reason, they will hold the manufacturers money, 
even though they are not to blame at all. 

(15.) Contractors may go broke on the job and tie up 
the manufacturers money indefinitely. 

Gentlemen, I have cited to you fifteen good reasons 
for "Letting Contracts as a Whole" or "Separately.'' It 
appears there has been dissatisfaction manifested in 
either case, and this was one of the main causes which 
started this Association; and, I wish to say to you, gen- 
tlemen, this Association will never be a success unless 
you harmonize these conditions. This can not be done by 
your existing rules. Eules which tend to lessen these 
difiiculties should be made. 

In order to open up a discussion along these lines I am 
going to offer some sugestions which I hope will bring- 
about some results. 

Let me say to you, Mr. Contractor and Mr. Engineer, 
you are not the most important persons interested; first, 
because you have not the capital or the combined energy 
and experience which is necessary to the successful man- 
ufacturer. Tlie large amount of capital needed by the 
manufacturer in order to conduct his business is evident 
by the amount of taxes collectable. I can name you one 
of the many manufactnring companies represented here 
today wlio has more money involved than all the contrac- 
tors and engineers in the Association combined. 

Mannfactnrers are engineers, becanse they employ con- 
sulting, designing, supervising and erecting engineers. 
They are contractors, because they contract to deliver 

114 



the <>oo(ls; they are a big factor in the growth and devel- 
opment of a cit}', because they empk)y many thousand 
of wage earners. If this is true they should be consid- 
ered first and last in that which tends to build up or tear 
down their business. 

You kill the manufacturer, and you, Mr. Engineer and 
Mr. Contractor, will look for another vocation in life. 

I believe in "Letting Contracts as a Whole" in many 
instances to be a good thing for the purchaser whether it 
be a coi*poration or a municipality, and I maj give for my 
reasons as follows: 

(1.) Because I am an engineer, and in speaking for 
myself I would say; I have one party to hold responsible 
for the Avorkmanship, quality of material and completing 
the work within the specified time, thus concentrating 
mv forces and srreatlv reducing- mv labors. I believe it 
is economy for the city because it enables the city to 
reap the benefit of the improvement at an earlier date 
than it would be possible to do should there be several 
contracting parties to comijlete the work. For example, 
let us presume that a citj has bonded itself for |1.00,000.- 
00 to construct a certain improvement, and we find that 
it can contract to complete the job, say, ninety days 
sooner by letting the "Contract as a Whole" instead of 
"Separately," we have a saving of interest (at a rate of 
5 per cent, per annum) on $100,000.00 for ninety days, 
which equals |1,250.00. It is also a great saving to every 
citizen to be able to derive the benefit from its earlier 
completion. If the streets are to be torn up for the nec- 
essary improvements, his business is naturally impaired 
for a certain length of time. If the improvement is a 
system of water works, he enjoys a saving in the way of 
fire protection. If a system of sewers, he enjoys sanitaiw 
conditions; if an electric plant, its luxury, all at an ear- 
lier date if the contract is "Let as a Whole." 

But, gentlemen, I am not in favor of letting contracts 

115 



as a whole if it means additional cost or a probable loss 
to the manufacturers, because in ninety-nine times out 
of a hundred the purchaser will have it to pay. 

'Not am I in favor of "Letting Contracts as a Whole" 
if it is necessary for the general contractors to get to- 
gether and compel the citj to pay their so-called ex- 
penses. 

In answer to the replies favoring contracts "Let Sepa- 
rately/' I submit the following for your consideration. 

If this be the day of the specialist, I am in favor of 
bringing him to the front, and to specify, that the con- 
tractor shall employ him on the work. 

If the manufacturers can deliver the machinery, super- 
intend the erection for less than the general contractor 
I am in favor of specifying that they shall do it; but, they 
should be held responsible to the general contractor, who 
in turn shall be responsible to the city. 

If unit prices govern adjustment. It is an easy matter 
to determine a schedule of prices before the contract is 
let. If the general contractor has no interest in respon- 
sibility regarding efficiency of the machinery or payment 
of same, I am in favor of preparing specifications in such 
a manner that he will be interested. 

If the city is better served b}' buying direct I am in 
favor of letting it do the buying, through the consulting 
engineer, but at the expense of the general contractor, 
i. e. assume a case where the contractor is to purchase a 
large quantity of water pipe, sewer pipe, machinery, etc., 
thus increasing the size of his bond and calling for a 
large amount of money to swing the deal, I ami in favor 
of the city making the purchase and to advance the pay- 
ment, charging the expense, if any, to the general con- 
tractor. 

If it is necessary to change the specifications with ref- 
erence to the manufactured product, I am in favor of do- 
ing so Willi t}.e mutual consent of the purchaser. 

116 



If llir iiiaiml'aelurcM'S arc lo sul'I'rr a loss onnIiil; 'kjIk* 
iinmlxM- of ii-responsiblc c-ontractoi'S in IIk^ tield, [ am in 
favov of couipelling the <>'eiieral contractor to slh»w re- 
ceipts f<n* payments before final settlement. 

In order to protect tlie mannfactnrers wlien bi(hlini; to 
the general contractors, I am in favor of making the con- 
tractor specify the name of the mamifactnrer of tlie pro- 
dnct he proposes to fnrnish in his proposah 

I am in favor of compelling the contractor to pay tlie 
mamifactnrer in fnll for all machinery and materials of- 
fered as soon as apjn'oved by the engineer, regardless of 
the final estimate. 

The general contractor has no right to assume that the 
purchaser wants the cheapest or inferior machinery, un- 
less so specified. 

If the contractor is not competent to erect a machinery 
job, I am in favor of compelling him to secure the ser- 
vices of the manufacturer's erecting engineer. 

If the contractor has agreed to nse the manufacturers 
product at a price agreed on before the letting, and after- 
ward awarded the contract fails to keep his promise with 
the manufacturer, I am in favor of annulling his contract. 

I am in favor of compelling the general contractor to 
show evidence of his financial standing and capability of 
fulfilling his contract, both to the city and the manufac- 
turers, before accepting his proposal. 

I am in favor of doing away wwith irresponsible con- 
tractors, incompetent engineers and inexperienced manu- 
facture!^. 

I am in favor of makinc: rules wherebv these results 
can be obtained. 

Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention and hope 
you will give the subject your careful attention, it needs 
it. 

Eichard C. Huston, 
Consulting Engineer. 

Mr. Huston^s paper was received with applause. 

117 



The Ohairman: I will appoint Mr. Cdmmius to read tlie 
paper on "Standardization of Hydrant Nozzles" prepared 
by Mr. W. H. Hume, of Chattanooga. 

STANDAEDIZATIO-N OF HYI>KAj!^T NOZZLES. 

The first organized attempt to secure the adoption of 
the standard hose thread, for hydrants and fire hose, 
seems to have been in 1873, when at a meeting of the 
International Association of Fire Engineers, at Cleve- 
land, Ohio, a universal thread of 7 1-2 to the inch on 2 1-2 
inch hose was recommonded. 

The subject was brought up from time to time, at in- 
tervals of four or five years, without any definite result 
or sustained agitation, until 1891, when we find that Mr. 
C. A. Landy, of the Fabric Fire Hose Co., presented a 
paper to this same association, rceommending a coupling 
2 1-2 inch inside diameter, 3 1-6 inches outside, and 7 1-2 
threads per inch. 

There is no record of further action until at a meet- 
ing of the International Association of Fire Engineers, 
in Chattanooga, in 1904, a committee was apj)ointed to 
confer with a similar committee of the National Fire 
Protection Association, to work out the problem jointly. 

The result of this movement, carried on for thirty 
years, and culminating at the Chattanooga meeting has 
resulted in the adoption of a series of standards, wl^ich 
are presented herewith, and which have been unani- 
mously ai)proved by the following organizations:: Tlie 
American Waterworks Association, International Asso- 
ciation of Fire Engineers, National Firemen's Associa- 
tion, New England Waterworks Association, Pennsylva- 
nia Waterworks Association, North Carolina Firemen's 
State Association, National Board of Fire Underwriters, 
National Fire Protection Association. 

^ilie committee on Standard Hose Couplings, consisting 
of Mr. Griswold, Chairman, and Messrs Bmen, Henlty, 

118 



and Ciiiiipbell (tlie lust uainod <;entleniaii beint^' a member 
of our association), have, as a result of their labors, pre- 
sented us with a number of nozzles, ranging in size from 
21-2 to 41-2 internal diameter, Avhich cover the gfcinid 
\ery fully. 

The hose in most universal use throughout the country, 
is 2 1-2 inches internal diameter, and, for this there has 
been selected a coupling 3 1-2 inches outside diameter, 
71-2 threads per inch. 

The 3 inch hose is 3 5-8 inches outside diameter, 6 
threads per inch. For hose 3 1-2 inches internal diame- 
ter, a coupling 11-1 inches outside diameter, G threads 
per inch is recommended, and for 4 1-2 inches, the outside 
diameter is 51-1 threads per inch, threads per inch, 4. 
tliis gives a range of sizes w^hich will meet any condition 
found in practice. 

The form of thread: adopted is the 60 degree T type, 
with one hundreth of an inch taken off the top and added 
to the valley in the 21-2, 3, and 3 1-2 inch coupling, and 
two one hnndreths of an inch in the 4 1-2 inch coupling. 

That the standard of 71-2 threads per inch for 21-2 
inch couplings was not selected in a hap-hazzard manner, 
or arbitrarily established, may be shown by the fact that 
70 per cent, of the nozzles now in use are of this size, or 
so near it that they can be used without change. 

In cities where existing couplings and attachments are 
such that the Xational Standard cannot be used, it is pos- 
sible to carry a number of special connections, or short 
nipples, having the standard thread on one end and the 
old thread on the other. In this way, as fast astlie hose 
wears out, it can be replaced with new hose having the 
•Xational thread. Thus, in a very short time, the entire 
equipment would be gradually standardized at a compar- 
atively small expense, spread over a term of years. 

The drawings and dimension tables accompanying this 
paper, which are copied from the pamphlet issued by tho 

119 



National Fire Protection Association i)ractically consti- 
tute working drawings, wliich can be nsed by manufac- 
turers of Hydrants, Hose and Fire Protection Apparatus 
in making up tbeir standards. 

When we consider the disastrous results wMcb oc- 
curred at the Baltimore and Toronto fires, due to the in- 
ability of the neighboring fire companies to render assis- 
tance, owing to the different hose couplings, the need for 
immediate action is at once apparent. 

As stated in the body of this paper, the couplings here 
with presented have been adopted by the National Boar i 
of Underwriters, and the National Fire Protection Asso- 
ciation, and have been approved by the various associa- 
tions already mentioned. 

It is also very encouraging to note that the City of St. 
Louis has appropriated $50,000 to change all its couplings 
from G to 71-2 threads per inch. This is an ex;imple of 
what may be successfully accomplished, when 1he ques- 
tion is taken in hand forcibly, and with well directed 
effort. 

Looking at it in this light, and considering the impor- 
tance of the American Public Works Association, and 
the influence it exerts throughout the South, an expres- 
sion of approval coming from this body would be largely 
instrumental in furthering the adoption of the Standard 
Thread, a cause, which I am sure we will have at heart. 

In conclusion, the writer would strongly urge upon this 
Association of drawing up suitable resolutions signifying 
their approval of the National Standard Coupling, and, 
also, as individual members, in pledging ourselves, by 
constant agitation to assist in its universal adoption. 

Eeceived with applause. 

A motion to ndjourn until two o'clock was heard. 

The Chairman. — There is just one thing I want to call 
your attention to, there have been some deaths in our 
membershi]), and if any one knows aiiyfhiiig about the 

120 



(l(H'(-as(Ml iiuMiilxM's, ]>l('as(' i»() to lli(' M«Miil)('rslii|) Coin- 
luitte^Mind ^ivc^ thcin any iiifonnation yon lia\('. 

^Ir. Howi'oii. — I (!(► not think W(^ can adjonrn at this 
hour and <»-et tlh'on<ih with the business we have on hand 
today. 1 have no objection to adjournin<>- for five or ten 
minutes, because 1 know that the Conunittee on Kules 
lias niad(^ s(^veial clian^es, and W(^ ou^^lit to be i»()vern(M| 
by our (vxperience at the first convention. I reniend)er 
theri^ was a h)iio discussion brought about by chan<;es in 
our rules. 1 believe there are no further i>apers. I move 
tliat the report on By-Laws be heard. 
Motion seconded and carr-ied. 
Mr. Kino-. — The Committee on By-LaAvs respectfully 
recommends the following changes in the By-Laws of the 
Association: 
Article 1, second paragraph. Strike out the following: 
Its object is to provide and maintain suitable resolu- 
tions, in connection with the execution of public works; 
to encourage papers, suggestions and deliberations by its 
members, for the improvement thereof. 
And insert in lieu thereof, the following: 
"Its objects are to standardize general specifications 
in enjij^neering and architectural contracts, to make rules 
for the constniction of public works, to improve the con- 
ditions of such constniction, to hold meetings for the 
consideration of papers and for discussion npon all snb- 
jects connected with the construction of public works, 
and in all other ways to promote hannonious relations 
between mannfacturers, engineers, contractors and offi- 
cers of mnnicipal corporations, and other public anthor- 
ities, local, state, or national, engaged in the constniction 
of public Avorks." 
Article 4. Strike out section 5, as follows : 
To make such niles and regulations as may be neces- 
sary for the government of the Association and its mem- 
bers, and to alter and amend the same. 

121 



Article 4, strike out section 9, as follows: 

9. To make rules for its goyernment, and to fix and 
enforce penalties for the violation of sucli rules. 

Article, strike out section 14, as follows : 

14. ^N'o member of the Executive Committee shall sign 
the recommendation of any applicant for membership. 

Article 4. Henumber the remaining sections to corre- 
spond with the above amendments. 

Article 5. Strike out section 5, as follows : 

5. All applications for membershix) must be recom- 
mended b^^ a member in good standing. 

Article 5. Kenumber the sections to correspond with 
the above change. 

Article 7. Section 1, reading as follows: 

The membership fee shall be three dollars. 

Strike out "three" and insert "five." 

Article 7, Section 2, reading as follows: 

2. The annual dues shall be one dollar, payable in ad- 
vance at or before the time appointed for the annual 
meeting. 

Strike out "one" and insert "two.'' 

Article 17, reading as follows: 

Amendments to the by-laws ma}^ be made at any meet- 
ing of the Association, annual or special, by a two-thirds 
vote of the members present, after notice has been given 
in writing to each member for at least one month. 

Strike out the following: 

"After notice has been given in writing to each mem- 
ber for at least one month." 

In view of tlie existing provisions of article 17, as above 
quot(Ml, your Committee submits to the Association the 
question wliether it has the power at this time to make 
any of the above amendments, no notice having been, 
given in writing to the member's of the proposed amend- 
ments one mouth in advance^ of this meeting. 

If tlie Associntion cousichMs tliat it is Avithoiit i>ower 

122 



to make tlie anRMKliiu'iits at tliis timo, tlion the Commit- 
tee recommends a resolution deelaiini;- it tlie sense of tlie 
Association that tliese elianj^es slionld be made, and di- 
rect in,i>- the Secretary to submit the proposed amend- 
ments in writin<i- toeacdi member of the Association at 
h'ast one month before the meeting- of the Association. 

\Vm. B. KING, 
J. S. SLICEE, 
FAIR DODD, 
Committee on By-LaAvs. 

The Chairman.- — You liave lieard the report, gentle- 
men, what will you do with it? 

A Member. — I would like to ask the Chair for a ruling 
on this point, whether this meeting has power to change 
these by-laws. 

Mr. O'Beirue. — I wotild like to say in connection with 
this tangle abont the by-laws, that the by-laAvs of this 
Association hare never been adopted by this body. They 
were written after onr Gulfport meeting, and presented 
to the Executive Committee and adopted by them, but so 
far as this body is concerned, it seems to me that we 
have power to change them. 

Mr. King. — I think, nnder the 'statement, that these 
by-laws have never been adopted, it seems to me we can 
do anything we please, and I offer the suggestion that 
we take these by-laws, with the amendments offered by 
the Committee, and take uj) the by-laws seriatim. I, 
therefore, offer the motion that we proceed to the adop- 
tion of the by-laws, and they be considered adopted as 
read, with the amendments made by the Committee on 
By-Laws, unless some member desires to offer an amend- 
ment to them at that time. 

It was suggested by a member that some time be set 
for holding the annual meeting, and for the payment of 
the annual dues. 

Mr. King. — I move that we i:)roceed to consideration 

123 



and adoption of the b^^-laws, and tliey be taken up section 
by section, and tlien be adopted as a wliole. 

A Member. — I would like to suggest that in order to 
save time a reasonable time be allowed anybody to raise 
any question and then proceed to a reading. 

Mr. King.- — I will amend my motion so that we pro- 
ceed immediately to the consideration of the by-laws, 
read them section by section, and in the absence of 
amendment, each section be adopted as read. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Mr. King. — I will read the articles as we go a,long, and 
substitute where the Committee has recommended a sub- 
stitution for the printed article, — the amendment pro- 
posed by the Committee. 

Article 1, read. Allowed to stand as read. 

Article 1, read. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I would like to state here that the point 
came up at our meeting, and was considered by your 
Executive Committee, and is likely to hapxoen in conven- 
tions, in case our president was ill, and Ave had only one 
Yice-President, and he was ill, we should have no presid- 
ing officer. Your Executive Committee recommended in 
their report that we change the by-laws so as to have 
three Vice-Presidents. I know that recommendation has 
not been acted upon, and I make a motion that we change 
that i)art of the by-laws so it would read: "One President 
and three Vice-Presidents.'' 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Artisle 3 was read. Allowed to stand as read. 

Article 4 read. 

Mr. OiU^s. — There are souu^ conditions in sev(M'al of the 
scM-tioiis of this article tliat place nu^ in a rather embar- 
rassing position, and I i)resnnie there are some repre- 
sentatives of othei' mannfactiiring companies who are in 
the same situation. That is the power conf(\rred upon' 
Ihe Executive OommillcM^ in w^(M•ji()n (>, to mak(^ a penalty 

124 



for violaliiiu' the rules and ciiforciiiu- same, an<l iu Sec- 
tion 1), Avhicli sooiiis to nio almost a (lu[)li(ato of S(M-tioii 
() — rules for noveriimeiit and tixini; and enforcini>" penal- 
ties for violation of sncii rules. Any h^^al (\\ecntiv(i 
committee would have the power of ciMisure, line, suspe^n- 
sion or exi)ulsion from the Association of any member 
for just cause. Xow, my membershi}) in this Association 
is entered in the name of the General Electric Co., and it 
is absolutely impossible for nie to subject the General 
Electric Co., to a fine, and I am without jiuthority to do 
so, therefore my membership in this Association is an ab- 
solute impossibility under these rules, and I would state 
at the time I joiiied I discussed the matter to some extent 
with Mr. O'Beirne, and I understood that this would be 
considered at this nieetiu<>-, and s(mie modifications be 
made. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I would like to say in answer to Mr. 
Giles that the Executive Committee recommended that 
the rules be not made arbitrary npon the members, and 
that course has been pursued. However, when these 
rules Were written I was under the impression that the 
rules were to be arbitrary, so takino that view of it we 
had just as well eliminate the objectionable features. 
We cannot assess a pealty on any member unless he 
violates some rule of the Association. As the rules are 
not arbitrary, he cannot violate them in a sense, as they 
now stand. We have aiireed to f>ive the rules our moral 
support, and witli that object in view, I move to strike 
out of the by-laws Sections 6 and 7, Article IV. 

A Member: I Avould like to say that my position is ex- 
actly the same as Mr. Giles', and I think they are calcu- 
lated to work a hardship on this Association, and I, 
therefore, second Mr. O'Beirne's motion that those arti- 
cles be stricken out. 

Mr. Kinii': That involves the old Section G and the old 
Section 7, as printed in Article IV., and also involves 

125 



striking out of the old Section 11 the word '^fine." Those 
are the si3ecific changes as required. 

A member: Read that particular clause, please. 

Mr. King (reading) : It is proposed to strike out Section 
7. Now in old Section 9, as printed in Article TV., tkat 
lias been amended hj the Committee on B^'^-laws recom- 
mending tlie omission of that. The old Section 11, Arti- 
cle IV., says "the Executive Committee shall have the 
power to censure, fine, suspend, or expel from the Asso- 
ciation any member for just cause,'' and the proposition 
is to leave out the word "fine." 

Mr. O'Beirne: I think if you wJD allow" Section 11, Arti- 
cle TV., to stand, leaving out the word "fine," so its ut- 
most power will be to expel a member, it would be wise 
to do so. 

Mr. King: The present plan is to adopt Article IV., 
with Sections 5, 6, 7, 9 and 14, and strike out the word 
"fine" from Section 11, and re-prepare the remaining sec- 
tions to correspond with this. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article V. read: 

A member: I move the adoption of that article, with 
Section 5 stricken out in regard to application of mem- 
bership being recommended by members in good stand- 
ing. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article VI. read: allowed to stand as read. 

Article VII. read: with an amendment offered by Com- 
mittee on By-Laws: 

Mr. O'Beirne: I Avoiild like to suggest that the dues 
be increased. It seems to me if this Association is going 
to do anything, it Avill want more money. I don't know 
what our total memberrship is at the present time, or 
whether th(^ anionnt of money on hand is sufficient for our 
pnrposes, bnt I think the impression is conveyed to \)oo- 
])](^ who are conteni])hUii;ig joining the Association that 

126 



it (l()('s not aiiiount to liiucli, for tlio icasoii iliai tin*. 
(liR\s do not amount to nincli. 

The Chairman: To j>et the nnniev that we will need, 
we will liave to raise our dues. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I merely offer this as a suggestion. It 
seems to me that we could do a great deal if we had more 
money, ^^'e started out with a small fee with the idea of 
building up a large membership. I have no objection to 
making the fee ten dollars, if you thing it is wise to do it. 
The Executive Committee discussed this the other after- 
noon, and they thought it well to raise the membership 
fee to five dollars for another year, and at the expiration 
of that, to raise to ten dollars. If you think it wise to 
raise uoav to ten dollars, I suggest someone make a 
motion to that effect. 

Mr. Giles: I suggest that the moditication made by the 
Executive Committee be adopted, and that the dues be 
$5.00 instead of |1.00, and they be paid |1.25 every qttar- 
ter, and in that way there will be money coming in 
throughout the year. 

Mr. O'Beirne: The objection to that is, we have no 
paid secretary to do the work of collecting. That would 
imt a good deal of work on somebody, and our secretary 
could hardly keep tip with it, and it is such a small 
amount of money, that the exchange on the checks and 
the postage stamps would eat it up. I think you had bet- 
ter hold to annual dues, paid annually, but I do not think 
the annual dues ought to exceed more than one-half the 
membership fee. I do not knoAv of any association in 
which the annual dues exceed more than onc^half of the 
membership fee, and while it looks like a small matter, I 
believe if you restrict the annual dues not to exceed one- 
half of the membership fee, you will meet with the 
wishes of the majority of the members. 

Mr. Adams: In my mind the only way the work con- 
temi^lated by this Association can be accomplished is by 

127 



a larger membersliixD, and I think this question of clues 
ought to be kept clown just as low as possible, in order 
to make it attractiye to members to come in, and I be- 
lieve any increase in the clues will result in keeping some 
members out. I know i^ersonally several members who 
belong because the dues have been a trifle. ^Yhat we 
want is more members, and I believe it would be a wise 
thing to keep the dues down for the present to two dol- 
lars per annum. 

Mr. O'Beirne: The Secretary's report of yesterday 
showed that the membership of the Association, with 
the pending applicants that were qualified to become 
members, made a total of 198, and in the Finance Com- 
mittee's report to be read later in the daj^, you will find 
that the exi>enditures for the past two years have been 
in round numbers one hundred dollars. I think there are 
one or two bills that are not included in that That 
batch of bills will not exceed fifty dollars. Tliere may be 
some extra expense in the way of literature, or matters 
for this Convention, but there is a balance in the treasury 
at this time of approximately |311.00, and if we have 
accumulated this mucli money with the annual clues at 
$1.00, and a membership fee of |3.00, I believe 
that the present change that is proposed by tlie Commit- 
tee on By-Laws to make the membership fee |5.00, and 
the annnal dues |2.00, will be necessary for all pui^^oses 
for the year to come. I believe, however, that the time 
will come, as has been stated, tliat in order to make our 
Associalion a valuable one, we must look forAvard, not 
only to increas(Ml membership, but also to getting out 
snch lit(^ratiire as will shoAV what we are doing, which 
are maHt^'s of interest to the members of our Associa- 
tion, and i believe that Avitli the membership fee of |5.00 
and I he dnes of ?2.00 we Avill probably be able to ai)point 
an assistant secretary Avho con lake charge of corr(\si)on- 
dcncc and \\(nk Ihal onr ])resen( scM-relarv lias not the 

12S 



tinu' tu at lend to, 1 would, therefore, sii^-gest tliat ilie 
iiiembersljij) fee be allowed to remain at 8.'5.(K), as su<^- 
•^ested by the ( 'oiniuittee cu By-Laws, and the annnal 
(hies at 12.00. 

Mr. (;ih-s: 1 niKhM-stand tliat tlie §5.00 initiation fee 
k(ei)s more men onl of the Association than the .?4.00 
annnal dnes. if a man is i»oing to join, he pays a year's 
dnes at the same time, and he has ,i>ot to ])lank down 
•fT.OO nndei' this proposition ,and for my i)art I wonld 
rathi^r see the initiation fee at |3.00, and §4.00 dues, 
l)ayable f 1.25 at a time. If a man was i»oini>- to join this 
Association, the .fl.25 would be so insignificant that I 
don't tliink it wonld act as a drawback to any man. who 
is bi<>- enough to be a desirable member of this Associa- 
tion. So far as the Secretar\'s work is concerned, he 
ought to be allowed a salary of |25.00 a year to coA^er his 
Avork in sending out his notices; he ought to be alloAA^ed 
(-nough to pay a man for this work. He may not do this 
himself, but may employ a stenographer or clerk to do 
this AA^ork for him, and he has to do this AA^ork at his own 
ex]>ense. I think §25.00 a year for a secretary's salary is 
low enough. Xoaa' about this |1.25 proposition, it enables 
the ExecutiA'e Committee and the officers of the Associa- 
tion to keep in touch with the members of the Associa- 
tion and kee]) up their interest; for if they pay their dues 
t^A'ery (puirter, he sees they are keeping up their interst. 
Those felloAA^s who join because the dues are only a dollar, 
I don't think are the kind of members we are looking for. 

Mr. King: 11i(^ discussion on this subject has been A'ery 
( nlightening to me. There has been a great deal said on 
the subject of our membership dues. I think aa^c need as 
many members as we can gej:, and I think it AA'ould be a 
little better to keep onr membership fee doAvn Ioaa', and 
])nt a little increase on the annual dues. Personally, I 
think AA e should name §5.00 a year as the annual dues. I 
do not think Ave should collect that fee quarterly. I 

129 



think we can all calculate that it costs at least five cents 
a letter to send a letter off — two cents postage, three 
cents for stationary and time of the clerk, and the ac- 
knowledgement to be sent wonld cost five cents, and 
there would be five cents exchange on the check, so to 
collect those dues we would be paying something like 
fifteen per cent, on the collections. I suggest we put the 
membershij) fee at |3.00 and the annual dues at J3.00. 
That would make |6.00, payable on entering, and $3.00 a 
year afterwards. Now we are going to need some money. 
The Association is going to increase each year as we go 
on, and there are efforts in the United States to make 
other contractors, or public works associations. There is 
one alread}^ organized in Pittsburg. There is a strong 
effort in Chicago to get the contractors together. Those 
organizations should all be brought into this organiza- 
tion. Wherever there is a meeting to organize such an 
association, some member of this Association should be 
present to endeavor to secure their affiliation and ulti- 
mate amalgamation. If this is to be done, we need some 
money to pay traveling expenses. I think |3.00 a year 
would be a sum that members would not feel, and wouhl 
not exclude members from it. 

Mr. Crimmins: I am in favor of |3.00 initiation ajid 
|4.00 a year for dues, and I move we name $5.00, tliat is 
a round sum, we are all accustomed to, and don't feel 
shocked over the largeness of it, and that we pay it twice 
a year. I don't think two collections a year would be a 
very great hardship on the Association. 

Mr. Tenney: I belong to several associations where the 
dues are $10.00, and T slioiild say $5.00 initiation fee and 
$10.00 (liu's. One of the things that made me join one or 
tAvo r)f those associations was they furnished reports 
showing Avhat they were organized for. AVhen T saw oiu^ 
of those volumes I saw my money's worth right there. 1 
lhiid< Mini 1lie i)r()c(MMlings of this iiKM^ting ought to be 

130 



published with the papers submitted. Wlieu a coutrac- 
tor sei.^s uue ui" these articles he sees Avliere he gets his 
teu dollars' worth, or live dollars' Avorth, aud 1 am hearti- 
ly iu favor of the higher dues aud higher initiatiou fees. 

Mr. O'Beirue: It seems to me we are takiug up a good 
deal of time to settle a small questiou. It seems to be 
the geueral seuse that the most that ought to be paid 
to become a member should uot exceed $5.00. It 
has uot beeu the custom when a member joins to pay the 
aunual dues. If a member joins dnring the year, he sim- 
ply pa;\ !^' his membership fee, and his annual dues become 
due on the date the annual meeting is fixed. I make a 
iiiotiou that the membership) fee be $5.00. 

The motion Avas seconded and carried. 

The Chairman: Xow take up the annual dues. 

>[r. King: A motion is made that the annual dues 
shall be $2.00, payable in advance at or before the aunual 
meeting Members elected before the annnal meeting 
shall not be liable for dues before the next meting. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article VIII. read. 

Mr. Butner: That ought to be changed to a majority 
of the members jDresent at the meeting. I move that it be 
amended by notices being sent out by mail and the vote 
to be taken by mail. You would not want to call a spec- 
ial meeting during the year at any time to consider it. 

Mr. Bowron: It appears to me that the members of this 
Association who take euougli interest in its affairs to 
attend tlie annual meetings are the competent people to 
pass upon these things; I think the majority of the mem- 
bers at the annual meetings are competent to settle these 
things vrithout consulting people by mail Avho have not 
taken enough interest to attend a meeting. 

Mr. Ladd: I would like to suggest that some limita- 
tion be placed in our by-laAvs as to the total amount of 
assessments that any member might be liable for. This 

131 



liability miglit deter a good many prospective members 
from joining the Association. I move that Article YIII. 
of the by-laws be strnck ont. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article VIII. (formerly IX.) read. 

Mr. King: I nivove that Article VIII., formerly Arti- 
cle IX., be adopted so as to read as follows: "Any mem- 
ber who shall fail to pay his des for three months after 
they become due, shall upon the fact being presented to 
the Executive Committee, cease to be a member.'^ 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article IX. read. Stood as read. 

Article X. read. 

Mr. Giles: I make a suggestion as an amendment. As 
laid out here, our President, Vice-President and Secre- 
tary are sort of fifth wheels in this proposition, and I 
would like to suggest that the President at least, and 
such other officers as it may be deemed wise, be made ex- 
officio members of the Executive Committee. I think the 
President, at least, should be. Otherwise, being ihe 
President and Vice-President merely means that t\\ey 
shall preside at the meetings. 

Mr. O'Beirne: The only serious objection to that is, it is 
so hard to get a quorum to do Siiij business if you ir.ake 
that committee too large. 

Mr. King: : As I understand Mr. Giles' motion, it is 
that Secti(ms 0, 7 and 8 of Article X., as read, be trans- 
ferred to Article IV., and the otlier sections of Article 
X., as read, be adopted. 

T\\(' motion was seconded and carried. 
Artich' XL read. 

Mr. King: : Tliis I'equires cluing(^ to Mnnv vi(H^-presi- 
(l(Mils, ns we luive ndopliMl (hat allich^ 1, (lun'ofore, 

132 



move (lic^ a(h)i>li()ii of Article XI., as read, with the ex- 
ee})ti()ii of the ehaiii^e to three vice-presideuts. 

Motion seeoiided and carried. 

Article XII. read. 

It Avas moved that the article be adopted Avith the 
chan^^e of tlie word "vice-])r(\si(lent" to "one of the \ice- 
presidents." 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Article XIV. read: Allowed to stand as read. 

Article XV. read: Allowed to stand as read 

Article XVI. read: Allowed to stand as read. 

Article XVII. read. 

Mr. Wilcox: ^^e onght to be able at the aniiiuil meet- 
ings to make snch changes in the b^^-laws as seem neces- 
sary, and not be obliged to refer them over to another 
year. 

Mr. Teniiev: I thinly that notice shoald be given to the 
members of proposed changes in the by-laws, especially 
when yon proA ide this in a special meeting. 

Mr. Giles: I move that the bA^-laws be changed at any 
annnal meeting by two-thirds of the members present. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

Mr. Giles: I move an amendment to Article II., that 
the President and Secretary be members of the Execu- 
tive Committee. 

Mr. Thomas: I would like to substitute for Mv. Giles' 
motion that the President liaA^e authority to convene 
the Executive Committee on such matters as he deems 
proper during the year, but I really believe that the 
ExecutiAT; Committee ought to be left intact. T think the 
Executive Committee as a rule in all associations i>apses 
on all matters w^hicli come up regarding the interpreta- 
tion of the by-laws, and passes judgment on all i^iatrers 
for the welfare of the association; and I belieA^e it is cus- 
tomaiy for theExecutiA^e Committee to act the judicial 
j)art. I think the President should haA^e the right to con- 

133 



vene tlie Executive Committee and submit any matter of 
this kind, but I tliinlv it is a judicial matter. It should 
be passed on by the Executive Committee of the Associa- 
tion. 

Mr. Giles: I think the general view is correct as ap- 
plies to railroad corporations, but in organizations of this 
character I think the president is supposed to be some- 
what of a judiciary himself. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I do not think it would be wise to make 
the officers members o fthe Executive Committee. There 
are a great many reasons against it. It ma}^ be neces- 
sary for the Executive Committee to take action against 
the officers, I do not believe you will find it the practice 
in associations for the officers to be members of the Exe- 
cutive Committee. 

Mr. King: I move that the by-laws be adopted as a 
whole as passed on seriatim. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

The Chairman : I would like to have the report of the 
Membership Committee. 

Mr. Crimmins : In the absence of the Chairman of the 
Membership Committee, it becomes my duty to report 
to you that we have considered the recommendations of 
the President which were referred to our committee, and 
which have to do with subsidiars^ organizations in the 
Association, one of which is to be known as the Engin- 
eers' Association, another the Manufacturers' Associa- 
tion and the third the Contractors' Association. It is our 
opinion that the suggestion and idea embodied therein is 
an exceedingly good one, when the Association becomes 
large enongh to make it necessary. 

It was ])art of our dnty, and we did check a report of 
tlK^ Secr(»tary, and Ave find that the Association now has 
100 nHMiibers, 148 of whom have qnalified. It becomes 
oni- sad duty lo call the alliMition of the Association to 
llio fjict that sinc(^ Uw hist nuMMiiig of the Associaiion 

134 



at (lultpoit, (U^ntli lias iuvadid our laiiks on ilircc occa- 
sions, takiiiu t'l-oni us .lames F. Casey, .John M. Ilealy 
and A'an de-llite Sniilli, \V. (>. (Uass and Wni. Jtcynolds 
Fltininj;-. We recommend to the Association tliat 
in (he published report of tlie ])roceediuo's of the 
Association there shall be devoted to each of the de- 
])arted members a full paj>e, on which shall be inscribed, 
"To the mcMnory of James F. Casey"; next page, ^'To the 
memory of John M. ITealey;" third, "To the memory of 
\'an (l(-llite Smith T fourth, ''To the Memory of AY. O. 
Glass,'' and, fifth. ''To the Memory of Wm. Eeyuohls 

^^'^''^^^^^^•"•" Respectfully submitted, 

Morgan Llewellyn, 
P. J. Crimmius, 
E. C. Butner. 

Mr.O'Beirne. — I move that the report be accepted and 
that the recommendation be carried out. 

The motion was seconded and adopted. 

The Chairman. — As the election of office will come up 
this afternoon, I believe it will save time to have a com- 
mittee select candidates, and I will, therefore, appoint 
a nominating- committee to consist of: A. M. Lockett, 
C. M. Lodd, E. J. O'Beirne, Adam Jones and E. F. Kittson. 

A motion to adjourn was heard. 

Before this was passed upon, it was announced by Sec- 
retary Flint that a smoker would be given in the conven- 
tion room at 8:30 that evening, to which all members of 
the Association were invited. 

A member. — Mr. Chairman, I move that the invitation 
will be extended to the members of the Water Works 
Committee, and people who have been so kind to the As- 
sociation. 

Seconded and carried. 

The motion to adjourn was seconded and carried. 

The Chair then announced the meeting adjourned until 
two o'clock P. M. 

135 



SECOND DAY 

Afternoon Session, September 15, 1906. 

The conyention was called to order at 2:15 P. M. b}^ 
Alce-President Hnston, Secretary Flint at the desk. 

I'Jij^ Chairman. — We are now ready to renew the report 
of the Committee on Rnles. 

Mr. Tenney. — ^Mr. Chairman, yonr Committee on Kules 
has carefully examined the rules of the Association, and 
while the} appear to meet general conditions in a satis- 
factory way, we have decided to recommend some amend- 
ments and clmnges, which we believe will tend to make 
the rnles more definite. 

We feci, however, that any action taken by this conven- 
tion in reference to the Association Kules should be con- 
servative, and we ask that each rule changed be voted up- 
on separately. 

We submit the following recommendations: 

First. Eule 2 now reads as follows: ^^When work is 
done on a percentage basis, securitj^ should be given to 
guarantee estimate and faithful performance of the 
work." 

We recommend that the words "estimate and" be 
struck out, so that Eule 2 shall in future read as follows: 
"Wlien work is done on percentage basis, security should 
be given to guarantee faithful performance of the work." 

Second. Rule 3 reads: "Designing Engineer shall not 
compete for work advertised to be let under his plans and 
s])ecifications." 

ViO r(»commend that Rule 3 be changed to read: "Ar- 
chitects and Engineers shall not bid on contracts for 
work advertised to be let under their plans and specifi- 
calious." 

136 



Third, llule 5 reads: "Bids shall be opened and read 
iu public." 

We recommend that Kiile 5 be amended by inserting 
the words, "at the time specified for receiving bids," and 
Kale 5 Avill then read: "Bids shall be opened and read 
in public at the time specified for receiving bids." 

Fourth. Rule G reads: "No bids shall be submitted 
after time named iu advertisement." 

We recommend that Eule G be changed so as to read 
as follows: "No bids shall be received after time 
specified." 

Fifth. Eule 11 reads: "When all bids are rejected, 
new bids shall not be made on the same specifications 
without readvertising." 

We recommend that the word "made" be struck out 
and the word "received" be inserted in its place. 

Sixth. Eule 14 reads: "Checks or bid bonds shall be 
returned to all but successful bidder as soon as award of 
contract is made." 

We recommend that Eule 14 be amended by inserting 
the words, "and to successful bidders as soon as contract 
is signed, accepted and bond filed, if required;" so that 
Eule 14 shall read: "Checks or bid bonds shall be return- 
ed to all but the successful bidder as soon as the award of 
contract is made, and to successful bidders as soon as 
contract is signed, accepted and bond filed, if required." 

Seventh. Eule 20 reads: "Extra work shall only be 
done on written order of engineer, when authorized by 
contractee, at a price to be agreed upon." 

We recommend that all words in Eule 20, after the 
word "engineer," be struck out. 

Eighth. Eule 21 reads: "In deducting material not re- 
quired, only the value of same shall be deducted." 

We recommend that Eule 21 be amended and changed 
to read: "In deducting material or work not required, 

137 



only the cost to the contractor shall be deducted. This 
applies to lump sum contracts only." 

Ninth. Eule 29 reads: "Monthly estimate shall be 
made on or before the fifth day of each month." 

We recommend that Kule 29 be amended b}^ inserting 
the words, "unless otherwise agreed," so that Eule 29 
shall read: "Monthly estimates shall be made on or be- 
fore the fifth day of each month, unless otherwise 
agreed." 

Tenth. Kiile 30 reads: "Ten per cent, of monthly es- 
timate shall be retained by contractee until work is com- 
pleted." 

We recommend that Rule 30 be changed and amended 
to read: "^N'ot more than fifteen per cent. (15 per cent.) 
of monthly estimates shall be retained by the contractee 
until work is completed." 

Eleventh. Rule 32 reads: "When work is conijDleted, 
engineer shall accept or reject same within a reasonable 
time." 

We recommend to strike out the words "within a reas- 
onable time" and insert the words, "in writing," so that 
Rule 32 shall read: "W^hen the work is completed, en- 
gineer shall accept or reject same in writing." 

Twelfth. Rule 34 reads: "When work is accepted, 
ten per cent, retained shall be paid in final settlement, 
and bond shall be released and returned, except where 
a time guarantee has been agreed upon." 

Rule 34 contains several clauses and is capable of 
misconstruction, particularly in a case where engineer's 
specifications specify a time guarantee, and bidder bid- 
ding under the rules, with a copy of the Association rules 
attached to his bid, did not suppose he was giving a time 
g-uarantee, tlie question arose as to Avhether the bid in 
question under Rule 34 did not include a time guarantee. 

138 



We, therefore, reeomineiul that two rules be made of 
Rule 34, and that they be numbered Kules 34 aud 35 and 
read as follows: 

Rule 34. "When a time guarantee has been agreed 
upon, a separate security' shall be furnished." 

Rule 35. "When work is accepted, percentage retained 
shall be paid in final settlement, and bond shall be re- 
leased and returned." 

We further recommend that the following footnote be 
printed with the rules. 

XOTE. — In drawing up specifications, if engineers will 
insert, "All work done under the rules of the American 
Public Works Association," it will not be necessary to 
print rules in full in specifications. 

Respectfully Submitted, 
George O. Tenney, 
Charles C. Wilson, 
]S'. Wilson Davis, 
J. E. Brady, 
Maurice W. Thomas, 
Adam Jones, 
Charles F. McKenzie. 
Committee on Rules. 

The Chairman. — Gentlemen, you have heard the report 
of llie Committee on Rules, it is an excellent report, and 
as the subject matter is important, I believe the recom- 
mendation of the Committee on Rules that each rnle 
changed be voted on separately, be carried out, and a mo- 
tion to that effect is in order. 

Mr. Parker. — Mr. Chairman, I move that the report of 
the Committee on Rules be taken up by sections, and that 
each section be voted upon separately. 

Mr. Crimmins. — I second that motion. 
Motion was adopted. 

139 



The Chairman. — The Secretary will please read the re- 
port of the Committee on Kules by sections. 

The Secretar}^ then read the report by sections amid a 
general discnssion, with following result. 

Section First. — Adopted. 
Section Second. — Adopted. 
Section Third. — ^Adopted. 
Section Fourth. — Adopted. 
Section Fifth. — Adopted. 
Section Sixth. — Adopted. 
Section Seventh. — Adopted. 
Section Eighth . — Adopted. 
Section Mnth. — Adopted. 
Section Tenth. — ^Ilejected. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I am somewhat surprised at the vote on 
Rule 30, particularly as the same recommendation re- 
garding rule 30 was made by the Executive Committee 
and was also strongly urged by Mr. Dodd in his excellent 
paper, and while it looks like a hardship to withhold fif- 
teen per cent., I believe it will, in the end, be the best 
for the contractor; as many contractors gauge the per- 
centage of profit in a bid by the amount held back in 
the contract, and I believe for that reason, if for no otJier, 
the retaining of fifteen per cent, will tend to better prices 
in general. 

Mr. Parker. — ^Mr. Chairman, I believe that ten i)er cent, 
retained with the further security of a suret}^ bond for 
25 per cent, of the contract price is ample security for 
the faithfnl x)erformance of a contract, and I am in favor 
of letting Rule 30 stand in its original form. 

The Chairman. — I believe ten per cent, is as much as 
should be held back until final settlement, if the purchas- 
(^r has the money, there is no reason why the good bond 
and fifteen per cent, also shoiihl be refnined. 

The Secretarj^ — The compnny T represent does a large 

140 



business with cities, and it soiuetinies requires a lou^i;- 
period to complete a contract, and as a general business 
proposition, 1 regard tit'leen per cent, as much more than 
necessary to be retained on a cast iron pijx' contracl. 

Mr. Bowron. — Mr. Cliairman, 1 am opposed to 15 per 
cent, being retained on cit}' contracts until linal com- 
pletion, and I voted against the change from ten to tif- 
teen per cent, in the committee room but was outvoted. 
I believe we have found ten per cent, to Avork well during 
the past two years, and tliink Kule 30 should not be 
changed. 

Mr. Dodd. — I think this convention will err on the side 
of safety if they adopt the 15 per cent, clause in Kule 30, 
as recommended by the Committee on Rules and by the 
Executive Committee. Ten per cent, is entirely too small 
an amount from the bondsman's standpoint, and I believe 
this Association should, in matters of doubt, take the 
safe course. Xo contractor should bid with a profit of 
less than ten per cent., and it does not seem to me jiroper 
that a contractor should carry out a piece of work and 
have only his profit invested, while the bond company 
carries the risk and responsibility. I think the contrac- 
tor should have some financial interest at stake in addi- 
tion to his i^rofit. 

Mr. King. — I believe that the recommendation of the 
Committee on Eules is wise and conservative and that it 
v\'ill, if adopted, result in a better class of bidders, as it 
will require capital to be invested in addition to the 
monthly joay roll required to carry out a contract. The 
government, in most contracts, requires that not less than 
fifteen per cent, be released until completion of contract. 
There may, however, be cases where fifteen per cent, may 
be unnecessary, as in the contract sale of manufactured 
goods. I will thereupon make a motion that Rule 30 be 
amended so as to read: "Xot more than 15 per cent. (15%), 

141 



nor less than 10 per cent. (10^) of monthly estimates shall 
be retained by contractee until work is completed." 

Motion was seconded by Mr. Thomas and adopted. 
Section Eleventh. — Adopted. 
Section Twelfth. — Adopted. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — Mr. Chairman, I have been requested b}' 
a prominent manufacturer to submit a new rule for this 
Association, and simply for the purpose of bringing it 
before this convention. I make a motion that a new rule 
be adopted to be known as Rule 37, same to read as fol- 
lows : "When material is bought f . o. b. direct from man- 
ufacturer by the city, only five per cent. (5 per cent.) shall 
'be retained." 

The motion was seconded by Mr. Parker and adopted 
without discussion. 

The Chairman. — The Secretary will now read the As- 
sociation Rules as changed and amended. 
The Secretary then read the rules as follows: 

RULES OF THEi AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS 
ASSOCIATION. 

Rule 1. When State or Municipal Statutes conflict 
with the Association rules, the latter shall be waived. 

Rule 2. When work is done on a percentage basis, se- 
curity should be given to guarantee faithful performance 
of the work. 

Rule 3. Architects and engineers shall not bid on con- 
tract for work advertised to be let under their plans and 
specifications. 

Rule 4. No bids shall be asked until money to pay for 
tlie work has been provided. 

Rnle 5. Bids shall be oi)enod and read in public at the 
time specified for receiving bids. 

142 



Rule G. Xo bids shall be received after time specified. 

Rule 7. Xo bids shall be withdrawn after time set fur 
opening bids. 

Rule S. Illegibility or ambiguity shall invalidate a bid. 

Rule 9. Bidders shall not be permitted to change 
prices stated in bids. 

Rule 10. Bids shall state specifically, make of appa- 
ratus or machinery proi)osed, and same shall be specified 
in contract. 

Rule 11. AA'hen all bids are rejected, new bids shall 
not be received on the same specifications without re- 
advertising. 

Rule 12. The amount of certified check required shall 
be stated in the advertisement calling for bids. 

Rule 13. Bid bonds may be substituted for certified 
checks. 

Rule 11. Checks or bid bonds shall be returned to all 
but the successful bidder as soon as award of contract 
is made, and to successful bidders as soon as contract is 
signed, accepted, and bond filed, if required. 

Rule 15. Award of contract shall be made within thir- 
ty days (30 days) after bids have been opened, or checks 
returned to bidders. 

Rule IG. Bond shall not exceed tweuty-five per cent. 
(25 per cent.) of contract price, unless otherwise provided 
by law. 

Rule 17. Twenty days shall be allowed contractor in 
which to furnish a satisfactory bond. 

Rule 18. In event of discrepancies between the draw- 
ings and specifications, decision of the engineer shall be 
final. 

Rule 19. All instructions regarding work shall be giv- 
en bv the engineer. 



143 



Rule 20. Extra work shall only be done on written or- 
der of the engineer. 

Rule 21. In deducting material or work not required, 
only the cost to the contractor shall be deducted. This 
applies to Lump Sum contracts only. 

Rule 22. Changes in construction shall not be made to 
lessen quantities of material in transit, or in progress of 
manufacture, unless contractor be paid for all actual loss 
occasioned. 

Rule 23. When a specific make of machinery or appa- 
ratus is specified in contract, same shall be furnished in 
accordance with the manufacturers' plans and specifica- 
tions, submitted with bid. 

Rule 24. Engineer or his authorized assistants shall 
at all times have access to the work and materials, for 
purpose of inspection, and have notice of concealed work 
before it is covered. 

Rule 25. In event of emergency work, contractor shall 
notify engineer, and engineer shall furnish inspector. 

Rule 26. When work done in regular progress of the 
contract is ordered torn down for purpose of inspection, 
if found to be in accordance with the specifications, it 
shall be at the cost of contractee. 

Rule 27. Engineer shall give written notice to the con- 
tractor when work or material has been rejected. 

Rule 28. Monthly estimate shall be based on the con- 
tract price, and shall include all material delivered and 
accepted, and labor performed during previous montlis. 

Rule 29. Monthly estimates shall be made on or be- 
fore the fifth day of each month, unless otherwise agreed 
upon. 

Rule 30. Not more than fifteen per cent. (15 ]-)ov cent.) 
nor less than ten per cent. (10 ])er cent.) of niontlily esti- 
mates shall be retained by contracting until work is com- 

pl(-t(Ml. 

144 



Kule 31. Time isliall be allowed coutractor lor drhxy 
caused by strikes, accidents, or other causes beyond liis 
contro]. 

Rule 32. When the work is completed, engineer si i all 
accept or reject same in writing. 

Eule 33. Contractor is released from all future respon- 
sibility when contractee takes possession of plant, wheth- 
er settlement has been made or not, unless otherwise 
agreed. 

Rule 34. When time guarantee has been agreed upon, 
a separate security shall be furnished. 

Rule 35. When work is accepted, percentage retained 
shall be paid in final settlement, and bond shall be releas- 
ed and returned. 

Rule 36. Arbitration shall be resorted to in all cases 
before appljdng to the courts. 

Rule 37. When material is bought f. o. b. direct from 
manufacturer by the city, only ^xe per cent. (5 per cent.) 
shall be retained. 

XOTE: In drawing up specifications, if engineers will 
insert, "All work done under rules of the American Pub- 
lic Works Association,'' it will not be necessary to print 
I'ules in full in specifications. 

The Chairman. — ^A motion is now^ in order to adopt the 
rules as a wTiole. 

Mr. Butner. — I move the adoption of the rules as read. 
Motion was seconded by Mr. Jones and adopted. 

The Chairman. — We are now^ ready to receive the re- 
port of the Finance Committee. 

Mr. Cole. — Mr. Chairman, your Finance Committee 
begs to report that owing to the absence of our treasurer 
we have been able to audit the accounts of the Associa- 
tion onl}^ as they are showm by the books of the Secretary. 

145 



The report follows: 

EEPORT OF THE FINANOEI COMMITTEE: 

Collections from 148 members .|411.00 

Dues .. .. .o 1.00 

Total collections f412.00 

Whicli amount has been paid to H. J. Malochee, Treas- 
urer, as follows: 

Aug. 26, 1904 158.00 

Oct. 25, 1904 35.00 

:Nov. 16, 1904 32.00 

Dec. 5, 1905 24.00 

March 30, 1905 91.00 

Sept. 15, 1906 172.00 

Total 1412.00 

Bills have been approved by the Executive Committee 
for payment and forwarded to the Treasurer. 

On December 3, 1904 | 50.15 

On December 29, 1905 51.78 

Total 1101.93 

Balance in Treasury Sept. 13, 1906 |310.07 

There are many membership fees due from new appli- 
cants as well as annual dues due from old members Avhich 
have not been taken into account, and 3^our Committee 
urges you to take such action as will facilitate the collec- 
tion of these dues. We would take this occasion to com- 
pliment our Secretary on the very able manner in which 
the records of his office have been kept. 

Eesi)ectfnlly submitted, 

M. F. COLE, Chairman. 

A. J. BOWRON. 

W. F. WILCOX. 

Finance Committee. 
Sept. L5, 1906. 

146 



Ujjou niotiou the report Wiis adopted. 

Mr. O'Beirue. — 1 move that the Secretary be iiisLr acted 
to call ou the Treasurer for a report Id writing. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

Mr. Thomas. — I do not know whether I am in order or 
not, but if I am, I would like to extend a vote of thanks 
to {Secretary Flint for the able manner in Avhich he has 
performed the duties of his office. 

The motion Avas seconded and was unanimously passed 
by a rising vote. 

Secretary Flint. — I thank you, I thank you, I thank 
3^ou. (Applause). 

Mr. King. — I want to move that the Executive Com- 
mittee be instructed to incorporate this organization. It 
seems to me it is hardly proper for the organization to go 
on as a mereh' voluntaiy organization. We are not incur- 
ring an}^ large expense, but until w^e do incorporate, every 
member is liable for all the debts of the Association as 
a general rule, and I think it is much more fitting for us 
to be incorporated. This matter should be referred to the 
Executive Committee. I, therefore, move that the Ex- 
ecutive Committee be instructed to secure the incorpor- 
ation of this Association under the laAA^s of any state they 
desire. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

The Chairman. — The Secretary will now read the report 
of the Nominating Committee. 

The Secretary: 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE OX NOMINATIONS FOR 

OFFICERS. 

President, R. C. Huston, ITattiesburg, ^Miss. 
Vice-President, M. F. Cole, NeAvnan, Ga. 
Vice-President, C. C. Wilson, Columbia, S. C 
Vice-President, Geo. O. TenncA', Spartanburg, S. C. 

147 



Secretary, AVilliam H. Flint, Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Treasurer, Morgan Llewellyn, Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Executive Committee: 

Edward J. O'Beirne, Atlanta, Ga. 

A. J. Bowron, Birmingham, Ala. 

Chas. F. McKenzie, Augusta, Ga. 

Jno, W. Neil, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Maurice Thomas, Atlanta, Ga. 

C. M. Ladd, Chicago, 111. 

A. M. Lockett, New Orleans, La. 

Mr. Dodd. — I move the Secretary be instructed to cast 
the ballot of this Association electing the officers nom- 
inated. 

Mr. Thomas. — If I may make a suggestion I think w^e 
should have a lawyer on that Executive Committee, and 
I suggest Mr. Slicer. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I think as I have been on the Committee 
two years I would like to be excused. I would, therefore, 
like to have Mr. Slicer's name put on instead of mine. 

Mr. Dodd. — I move we do not accept Mr. O'Beirne's 
declination. 

Mr. Neil. — I am away up North and do not get down 
here very often and probably would not have an oppor- 
tunity of meeting the Executive Committee, and I agree 
with you that the other member should be some local 
Atlanta man, and I would ask to be excused and have 
Mr. Slicer put in my place. 

The Chairman. — I think the Executive Committee has 
charge of that. Are the members of that Committee 
here? 

Mr. King. — I should like very much to see such a gen- 
tleman as Mr. Slicer on the Executive Committee, but if 
Mr. Slicer is put on it seems to me some one who has been 
recommended by the Nominating Committee would be 
dis])l;u-e(l. Two gc^iiilemen have suggested tlint tli(\v bo 

us 



displaced aud Mr. Slicei* lake the other place. It seems 
to me that the reasuns given by each of these gentlemen 
as reasons for going off the committee are, in my opinion, 
reasons which commend themselves to the members of the 
Association for their staying on. We are still growing. 
A\'e are ])rond of onr x>iogress, bnt Ave hope to get a lot 
bigger, and it seems to me that the Avise coiniscl that 
Mr. O'Beirne has given ns in the last two years eminent- 
ly fits him to represent the Association not only for an- 
other year, bnt nntil it is stronger on its feet. Therefore 
1 regret to see him leave the Committee. On the other 
hand, Mr. Xeil says he comes from the Xorth and is far 
aAvay, and for that reason slionld be left off. \\e all hope 
that the American Pnblic Works Association shall ex- 
tend in the Xorth, and really become in name as Avell as 
in pnrpose a national association. It seems to me north- 
ern members onglit to be recognized, and the Tery fact 
that Mr. Xeil does come from Cincinnati is the yen' 
strongest possible reason why he should, as the rej^resen- 
tative of the Cincinnati Engineers, Mannfactiirers and 
Contractors, be on the Committee. I, therefore, hope the 
motion made by Mr. Dodd will receive fonr-fifths of the 
votes of the members present, and that the Secretary 
shall be instrncted to cast the ballot for the ofificers as 
named by the Xominating Committee. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I move that the by-laws be amended to 
add two more names to the Executive Committee, and 
that you add Mr. King and Mr. Slicer. 

Motion was seconded. 

Mr. King. — I must say that felloAA^ has the most unex- 
pected way of speaking that I eA'er heard of. 

The motion AA^as then put and carried. 

Mr. Dodd. — I move that the Secretary be instrncted to 
cast the ballot of this Association for the nominations 

149 



made with the understanding that Mr. King and Afr 
Slicer are added to the Executive Oommitteo. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

The Secretary. — ^As instructed, I cast the vote of this 
Association for the officers nominated by this Commit 
tee of your Association, adding the names of William B 
King and J. S. Slicer to the Executive Committee. 

The President. — We will now have the report of ^hr 
Committee on Uniform Contracts. 

Mr. Tenney.— As Chairman of that Committee, I would 
like to ask that our report be made at the next annual 
meeting. It will be impossible for us to make any report at 
this time. I would state that we have had a conference 
and we have got to get a good many different contract 
forms for the use of the Committee, and from different 
places, and try to formulate some contract that we think 
will be acceptable to the members of the Association, and 
it seems to me it is very important we should not leave 
out anything. We therefore ask for more time. 

Mr. Crimmins. — I move that the Committee be granted 
until the next annual meeting in which to make report. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — I move that the recommendations in 
Mr. Humes paper of Standardization of Hydrant Nozzles 
be adopted by the Association. We are making no blun- 
der; we are simply following the path blazed out hj a 
dozen different associations, and I think it is a very im- 
portant matter to add our little iota to it, and push along 
the day when we will have standard hydrants all over the 
United States. I think it would be wise. 

Mr. Crimmins' motion being first in order, was second- 
ed and carried. 

The motion of Mr. O'Beirne was then seconded and 
carried. 

Mr. O'Beiriie. — I move that the Executive Connnittoe 
be authorized to publish oiii* ])roceedings, including the 

150 



papers that have beeu read before this meeting, and lliat 
the}' also be authorized to solicit ads Avhich could be put 
in the rear pages of the book and help defray the expense 
of publishing it. 

The motion was seconded. 

The Chairman. — I am a member of the Western So- 
ciety of Engineers and I was requested by the secretary 
to send him a cop}' of these proceedings, and I think it 
would be a pretty good idea to have a cop}' sent to all of 
the Engineering Societies. 

Mr. O'Beirne. — We have been receiving requests from 
other public bodies all over the country to send them our 
literature, and we have had none to send. Xot only our 
proceedings at this meeting, but the proceedings of the 
Gulfport meeting should be also included in the book. 
We can publish them, and in that way preserve the re- 
cords from year to year. 

A member. — I move we comply with the suggestion 
that we have ads. 

Mr. 0/Beirne. — I would like to say in support of that 
suggestion that it is customary for a great many bodies 
to do that. The cost of publication will be about five 
hundred dollars. I had the pleasure of publishing the 
^N'ational Electric Light proceedings for some years. We 
received |25 a page. It will furnish us money to get out 
a book with the proper finish. I do not mean to put ads 
in the body, but in the rear of the book. I do not believe 
that would be objectionable, if it is restricted. 

The Chairman: You do not make that as an amend- 
ment to that motion. 

Mr. O'Beirne: 'No; I do not. 

Mr. :N'eil: It is not the intention to publish all of these 
discussions, is it? 

Mr. O'Beirne: Yes; but they will all be carefully edit- 
ed. We have an official reporter and he is getting it out 

151 



and will turn over to us eveiything that has passed in 
these proceedings since the meeting was opened. 

The motion of Mr. O'Beirne was carried. 

The President: I would say in regard to discussions 
that I think it a wise thing to publish them, as it Avill 
awaken interest, particularly with our members who are 
absent. I do not know anything that will awaken more 
interest than the discussions. We do not discuss enough. 
Some thoughtful papers have been discussed. In publish- 
ing the proceedings in detail, it will awaken interest and 
tend to bring discussions more permanently forward. I 
think great good results from it. 

Mr. King: I want to suggest to Mr. O'Beirne that he 
see to the editing and publishing. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I accept that amendment. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I move we adjourn sine die, subject to 
the call of the Executive Committee. 

The motion was seconded. 

Mr. Slicer: Before we put that motion, I would like to 
say it seems to me that a vote of thanks should be extend- 
ed to the Entertainment Committee for looking after the 
visitors very carefully, and I understand they have ar- 
ranged a delightful smoker for us to-night, and I am sure 
each member of the Association feels the same way I do 
about it. I move we extend to that Committee a rising- 
vote of thanks, as well as to the Atlanta Waterworks 
office. 

The motion was seconded and carried. 

Mr. O'Beirne: I also move we extend a vote of thanks 
to our retiring officers. 

Tlie motion was seconded and carried, and the motion 
to adjourn was put and carried. 

The President then announced the Atlanta meeting ad- 
jonrnod. 

152 




i|1riMii<ii.,iiM:ffl,'ni 





XKW TKR:MrXAL STATION 



REPORT OF 
H. J. Malocliee, Ex-Treasurer, American Public ^^'()rlvs 

Association. 
1904 

Aug. 2Ttli. Collections at Gulfport . . . .| 58.00 
Sept. 1st. Paid E. J. O'Beirne, organiza- 
tion expense 30.00 

Oct. 31st. From Secretary Flint.. .. 35.00 

Oct. 31st. Exchange on abore .10 

Kov. ISth. From Secretary Flint .... 32.00 

Nov. IStli. Exchange on above .10 

Nov. 18th. Approved bills, paid E. J. 

O'Beirne 50.15 

Dec. 14th. From Secretary Flint .. .. 24.00 

1905. 
Apr. 1st. From Secretary Flint . . . . 91 . 00 

Apr. 1st. Exchange an above .20 

1906. 
Jan. 23rd. Approved bills, paid E. J. 

O'Beirne 51.78 

Sept. 21st. From Secretary Flint .. ..172.00 

Sept. 21st. Exchange on above .26 

1412.00 132.69 
132.69 

Balance due by Treasurer f 279. 31 

NOTE. — The above report was not received until after 
the convention adjourned sine die, but is printed by or- 
der of the Executive Committee. 



153 



THIS PAGE IS SET APART 



BY THE 



AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION 

mmmmmmtmi^KBamm ^ ma^m^^mi^ iiiiiniiHiiinin mBrnmamssmmmaumamrnKm 

To Indicate Its Respect For The Memory 

OF 

Dan Busen 1Dite*Smitb 



Born near Louisville, Ky., on August 4, 

1874. Died at Knoxville, Tenn., 

on August 27, 1906. 



An engineer and contractor of Knoxville, 
Tenn., whose early death cut short a brilliant 
career. 



,S4 



THIS PAGE IS SET APART 



BY THE 



AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION 



To Indicate Its Respect For The Memory 



OF 



James jf. Case^ 



Born in Yellow Spring, Green County, 
Ohio, on Februar}^ 4, 1855. Died at his 
summer home, Walden's Ridge, near 
Chattanooga, Tenn., on August 15, 1904. 



Was Vice-President and General Man- 
ager of the Case}- & Hedges Manufactur- 
ing Co., of Chattanooga, Tenn. A man 
of strong character and great talents. 
To know him was to admire him. 



155 



THIS PAGE IS SET APART 

By THE 

AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION 

To Indicate Its Respect For The Memory 

OF 

Milliam IRe^nolbs jflemina 



Born in Harrisburg, Pa., on May 9, 1862. 
Died at Washington, D. C, 
on June 6, 1906. 



Was president of the Harrisburg Foundry and 
Machine Works, of Harrisburg, Pa. A man 
whose success was only equalled by the friends 
he made. 



156 



THIS PAGE IS SET APART 



BY THE 



AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION 



To Indicate Its Respect For The Memory 



OF 



ma. ®. (3ia88 



Born in Hickory, Penn., on December 8, 

1865. Died at Vicksburg, Miss., 

on October 8, 1905. 



Was a contractor at Yazoo Cit\', Miss., for 
many years and well and favorably known to the 
trade. In his home town few men ranked as 

high. 



157 



THiS PAGE IS SET APART 



BY THE 



AMERICAH PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATiOH 

To Indicate its Respect For The Memory 

OF 

3obn ni>. Ibeal^ 



Born in Wellington, 111., on August 7, 

1858. Died at Chicago, 

July 16, 1906. 



Was in the contracting^- business for thirty 
years at Chicago, 111., and no man's word was 
better than that of Honest John Healy. 



158 



ok(;anizati()X mki:ttx(; of tiif. amfkipax 
public \m)imvs assoclatiox. 

Ill resjioiise to a notice seut to inaiinfacturcrs, engin- 
eers, contractors and material men, askin<»- them to meet 
together and provide suitable re<>ulations, in connection 
with the execution of i)nblic works, a number met in par- 
lor ''!)" of the (ireat Soutliern Hotel, at Gulfport, Miss., 
on Friday, Auoust 26tli, 1904. 

Edward J. ()'B(nriie, called the meetino- to order at 10 
A. M., and nominated Mr. M. F. Cole, for Temporary 
Chairman, who was unamimously elected. Mr. Cole, in a 
few Avords, expressed his pleasure in being able to serve 
the convention. Mr. IT. J. Malochee was placed in nomi- 
nation for Temporary Secretary, and elected unami- 
mously. 

Cbairman Cole, said he would like to have some further 
information as to the object and purpose of the meeting, 
and called upon Mr. O'Beirne to state wbat it was. 

Mr. O'Beinie said, that several years ago the necessity 
for uniformity of si)ecitications was apparent to him, and 
to other contractors and material men, owing to the wide 
difference of opinion among engineers, each framing his 
specifications to suit himself. The idea of a meeting of 
those interested, he said, was first suggested by the late 
Mr. Patrick Walsh, of Chattanooga, in 1900. That the 
object of the meeting was to organize a permanent asso- 
ciation, and formulate a code of unifonn rules, to be 
incorporated in all general specifications, pertaining to 
pnblic w^ork, whicli should be observed by the members 
of the Association as far as possible. That it was the 
intention that the rules shonld be fair and just to all con- 
cerned, and he believed their adoption by the engineers, 
contractors, and material men interested in this particu- 
lar business would result in better methods, lower bids, 
and safer contracts. That it was the impression of some, 

159 



that this meeting was called for the purpose of "holding 
up" the towns, or against the interest of certain lines, 
which was a mistaken idea, for no such intention existed, 
but on the contrary, the organization to be effected, and 
the rules to be adopted, were intended for the 
protection of the interests of all concerned, includ- 
ing municipalities in general, and would tend to decrease 
the cost of public work. He said that a spirit of equity 
and fairness should preyail on both sides of all questions 
to be brought before this conyention, and in the adop- 
tion of any rules, or measures, he asked for a full, free, 
and careful consideration of the latter, with the privilege 
of the floor to anyone who desired to present his views. 

Mr. Llewellyn, moved that the Chairman appoint the 
following committees: Committee on Membership, Com- 
mittee on Rules, Committee on Permanent Organization, 
Committee on Finance. 

Motion was carried, whereupon the Chairman appoint- 
ed as follows : 

Committee on Membership. — ^E.. C Huston, T. W. Mcoll, 
M. W. Thomas, J. A. Gaboury, A. J. Bowron. 

Committee on Eules. — E. J. O'Beirne, J. A. Omberg, Jr., 
L. C. Glennjr, W. C. Porter, A. M. Lockett. 

Committee on Permanent Organization. — Lee D. 
Lewman, Walter Castanedo, G. W. Watson, C. M. Ladd, 
Ben. Willard. 

Committee on Finance. — W. H. Flint, Daniel Shafer, 
E. C. Butner, Morgan Llewellyn, L. S. Russell. 

Motion was made and carried, to adjourn and meet at 
Club House, on end of Pier, at 2 P. M. 



Mr. M. F. Cole, Chairman, called meeting to order at 
2:80 P. M. H. J. Malochee, Secretary. 

On call for committee reports, Mr. R. C. Huston read 
the following report, from Committee on membership: 

We, the CoTniiiillc^o on Membership, recommend the 

160 



fillowiiii;- })ei'soiis, who are present, to be qiialitied lor 
meiiibersliip in this Association: 

II. 0. Baker, Crocker-Wheeler Co., Atlanta, Ga. 

John 11. Barnett, Secretary, State Bniklers Exchan^^e, 
Jackson, Miss. 

AVni. C. Booth, Electric Appliance Co., Memijhis, Tenn. 

A. J. Bowron, Treasurer, Dimmick Pipe Co., Biraiing- 
hani, Ala. 

E. C. Butner, Stilwell-Bierce & Smith-Yaile Co., New 
Orleans, La. 

M. F. Cole, K. D. Cole Manufacturing Co., XeAvnan, Ga. 

Walter Castanedo, Glenny & Castanedo, Atlanta, Ga. 

S. H. Daniels, The Walsh & Weidner Boiler Co., Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn. 

William Deming, Electric Supply Co., Memphis, Tenn. 

Koydon Douglass, Interstate Electric Co., New Orleans, 
Louisiana. 

W. P. Field, Crocker-Wheeler Co., New Orleans, La. 

W. H. Flint, U. S. Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co., Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn. 

J. A. Gaboury, contractor, Jacksonville, Ala. 

L. O. Glenm^, Glenny & Castanedo, New Orleans, La. 

J. P. Greenwood, M. E., New Orleans, La. 

W. H. Hume, Herron Pump & Foundry Co., Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn. 

K. C. Huston, Consulting Engineer, Laurel, Miss. 

P. A. Ivy, Dimmick Pipe Co., Birmingham, Ala. 

J. C. Kennedy, Consulting Engineer, Gulfport, Miss. 

C. M. Ladd, Chicago Bridge & Iron Works, Chicago, 111. 

L. D. Lewman, M. T. Lewman & Co., Louisville, Ky. 

Morgan Llewellyn, The Walsh & Weidner Boiler Co., 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 

A. M. Lockett, A. M. Lockett & Co., Ncav Orleans, La. 

L. W. McDaniel, Contractor, McComb City, Miss. 

H. J. Malochee, Glenny & Castanedo, New Orleans, La. 

G. K. Newcomer. Columbia Lamp Co., Memphis, Tenn. 

161 



Capt, T. W. Nicoll, Consulting Engineer, Mobile, Ala. 

Wm. P. Luck, Erie Cit}'^ Iron Works, New Orleans, La. 

Edward J. O'Beirne, Contractor, Memphis, Tenn. 

J. A. Omberg, Jr., City Engineer, Memx3liis, Tenn. 

W. C. Porter, Contractor, Laurel, Miss. 

L. S. Eussell, Soutbern Sewer Pipe Co., Birmingbam, 
Alabama. 

J. H. Scboenle}^, Pboenix Iron Works, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Daniel Shafer, Hamilton Corliss Engine Co., Atlanta, 
Georgia. 

James Sloan, Montague & Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. 

J. W. L. Smith, Municipal Investment Broker, Brew- 
ton, Ala. 

W. T. Spranley, Spranley & Keed, New Orleans, La. 

M. W. Thomas, W^estinghouse Electric & Manufactur- 
ing Company, New Orleans, La. 

L. 0. Keed, Spranley & Heed, New Orleans, La. 

Geo. H. Watson, Watson-Flagg Engineering ComjDany, 
NewYork, N. Y. 

W. F. Wilcox, Consulting Engineer, Jackson, Miss. 

Ben. Willard, General Electric Co., New Orleans, La, 
(Signed) KICHARD C. HUSTON, Chairman, 

Membership Committee. 

On motion, duly seconded, the report of the Committee 
on Membership was adopted. 

Mr. L. D. Lewman, Chairman of Committee on Perma- 
nent Organization, read the following report: 

The committee appointed by your Chairman this 
morning beg to submit for your consideration the fol- 
lowing recommendations : 

1st. Tliat this Association be known as The American 
Public Works Association. 

2nd. That this Association be a national body. 

3rd. That tlie Association shall have four officers, viz: 
a president, a vice-president, a secretar\% and a treasurer. 
We submit for ehM-tion: J. A. Omberg, Jr., President; 

162 



Riclinrd C. Tliiston, Yico-Pivsidoiit; W. II. Flint. Secre- 
tary; II. J. Malocliee, Treasurer. 

4th. That there be an E^xecutive roiniiiittee electeil for 
the transaction of the business of this Association. 

5th. That the Executive Committee consist of five 
members, and that they shall hold office for one year, or 
until their successors are installed. 

6th. That the Executive Committee shall diaft suita- 
ble by-laws, rules and regulations, to f>overn and trans- 
act the business of the Association. 

7th. That the Executive Committee shall have the 
power to appoint such committees as may be necessary 
in the conduct of the business of this Association. 

Sth. That if the report of this Committee be adopted, 
tlie officers be immediatel}' installed, and tiike charge of 
the business of this Association. 

9th. That the temporary Committee on Rules shall act 
as the Executive Committee of this Association, until 
such time as the permanent Executive Committee of this 
Association shall be elected and installed. 

(Signed) L. D. LEWMAX, Chairman, 

Committee on Permanent Organization. 

It was moved and seconded that the report of the Com- 
mittee on Pemianent Organization be acted upon by sec- 
tion, which was carried, with the following result : 

Section 1st. Adopted. 

Section 2nd. Adopted. 

Section 3rd. Adopted, but amended to postpone elec- 
tion of officers until following day. 

Section 4th. Adopted. 

Section Sth. Adopted. 

Section fith. Adopted. 

Section Ttli. Adopted. 

Section Sth. Stricken out entirely. 

Section 9th. Adopted. 

163 



On motion, duly seconded, the report as amended was 
adopted. 

Eeport of tlie Finance Committee was then read by 
Mr. W. H. Flint, Chairman, as follows : 

The Finance Committee begs to report the following 
disbursement, made for account of this Association : 

Printing and Postage |30.00 

and recommend the payment of same out of an assess- 
ment of |2.00 from each firm here represented. Said 
assessment, it is supposed, will be sufficient to defray the 
expense of printing such rules as may be adopted. We 
also recommend that firms not represented here to-day, 
but who have applied for membership, be also assessed, 
and the manner of collection of said assessment be pro- 
vided for by the Association. Vouchers covering the 
above disbursements are hereto attached. 

(Signed) W. H. FLINT, Chairman, 

Finance Committee. 

The report of the Finance Committee was adopted. 

The report of the Committee on Rules was read by the 
Secretary, as follows: 

Mr. Chairman: Your Committee on Rules submit the 
following rules for your consideration; said rules, if 
adopted, to be known as "Association Rules." We sug- 
gest that each rule be acted upon separately: 

1. Engineers shall publish estimated cost of work, in 
advertisement. 

2. Engineers shall guarantee their estimates of cost of 
work. 

3. No bids shall be asked until money to pay for work 
has been provided. 

4. Work advertised to be let by contract shall not be 
awarded to the engineer. 

5. Rids shall be opcMUMl at 12 noon. 

(). No bids shall be r(M*eiv(Ml after bids are ojXMied. 

164 



7. Certified checks shall equal five per cent, of bid. 

8. Bid bonds nia}' be substituted for certified checks. 

9. Bidders shall not be peiinitted to change price stated 
in their bid. 

10. When all bids are rejected, new bids shall not be 
made on same specifications within thirty days. 

11. Award of contract shall be made within seventy- 
two hours after bids have been opened, or checks re- 
turned to bidders. 

12. Contractor reserves right to assign contract. 

13. Checks shall be returned to all but successful bid- 
der as soon as award of contract is made. 

11. Bond shall not exceed twenty-five per cent, of con- 
tract, unless required by a statute. 

15. Twenty days shall be allowed contractor to furnish 
a satisfactory bond. 

16. Extra work shall be paid for at cost plus fifteen per 
cent. 

IT. Time shall be allowed contractor for delay caused 
by strikes, accidents, or other causes beyond his control. 

18. Contractor shall not be held liable for errors of the 
engineer. 

19. Penalty or forfeiture clauses shall not be enforced 
unless contract provides bounty of equal amount for ear- 
ly completion. 

20. Contractor shall not guarantee the engineer's plans 
to work successfully. 

21. When a specific make of machinery'- or aj3paratus is 
specified in a contract, same shall be furnished in accord 
ance with the manufacturer's plans and specifications. 

22. When deduction is made for apparatus or material 
not required, only the cost of same shall be deducted. 

23. Quantity of work shall not be decreased after mate- 
rial has been ordered or shipped. 

24. Engineer shall not furnish additional plans or spec- 

165 



ifications after contract lias been executed, except with 
contractor's consent. 

25. Any permanent detail of constrnction that is essen- 
tial to make work substantial and suitable, but which 
has been omitted by error from the specifications and 
drawings shall be furnished by the contractor, without 
additional charge. 

26. In the event of discrepancies between the drawings 
and the specifications, the decision of engineer shall be 
final. 

- 27. Engineer, or his agent, shall at all times have access 
to the work and materials for purposes of inspection and 
supervision. 

28. Engineer shall give written notice to contractor 
when work or material has been rejected. 

29. Engineer's estimate shall be based on contract 
price. 

30. Engineer's estimate shall be made on the last day 
of each month. 

31. Engineer's estimate shall include all material de- 
livered, and labor performed. 

32. Fifteen per cent, of engineer's estimate shall be 
retained by contractee, until work is completed. 

33. Eighty-five per cent, of engineer's estimate shall be 
paid contractor on the first day of each month, 

34. All work done and material furnished shall become 
property of contractee, on pa^^ment of eighty-five per 
cent, of engineer's estimate. 

35. All differences between engineer and contractor are 
to be settled by arbitration. 

36. Contractor shall not be held liable for damage by 
tlie elements, to Avork or material that is property of 
contractee. 

37. All iiistiMiction regarding work shall be given by 
(MigiiKM^r or his representatives. 

166 



38. Eiijiiiioer shall not i)erinit work to bo done tliat i.s 
uot iu accordance Avith the contract. 

39. Unless othei'wise specified, local brick shall be used. 

40. In cases of emergency Avork, contractor shall notify 
engineer, and he shall furnish insi)ection. 

41. Work torn down, or taken np, for purpose of inspec 
lion, if fonnd in accordance with specifications, shall be 
at cost of contractee, otherwise, contractor. 

42. Hydrostatic and hammer tests on cast iron pipe, at 
pressure in excess of manufacturer's standard specifica- 
tions, shall be made at foundry. 

43. Test pressure on cast iron Avater mains shall not 
exceed manufacturer's standard specfications. 

44. Insulation tests on electrical apparatus shall be 
conducted at the factory. 

45. Shop test only is to be required on all machinerA^ 
and ajiparatus for frir^tion and efficiency. 

46. Boilers are to be tested and inspected at factory by 
a steam boiler inspection company, and certificate ren- 
dered. 

47. Manufacturers shaH guarantee the successful op- 
eration of their ap]3aratus, wlien erected in conformitA^ 
with, tlieir plans. 

48. Manufacturers shall guarantee to replace, free of 
charge, defectiA^e material or workmanship, for a i^eriod 
of one year from date of shipment. 

49. The measure of claim on manufacturer shall be 
limited to the i>rice of defectiA^e part, which shall be re- 
turned to manufacturer before claim is allowed. 

50. All bids must state specifically what make of ma- 
chinery and apjDaratus it is proposed to furnish, and the 
bid accepted, including the name of such api)aratus and 
machinery, must be made a x>art of the contract. 

51. Xo bids shall be withdrawn after time set for open- 
ing bids. 

' 52. Illegibility or ambiguity shall iuAalidate a bid. 

167 



53. When work is completed, engineer sliall accept or 
reject witMn twenty-four hours. 

54. Contractor is released from all responsibility when 
contractee takes possession, whether settlement is made, 
or not. 

55. When work is accepted, fifteen per cent, retained 
shall be paid in final settlement. 

56. When work is accepted by engineer or contractee, 
bond is to be released. 

57. When State or municipal statutes conflict with 
above rules, the latter shall be waiyed. 

(Signed) EIDWARD' J. O^BEIRNE, Chairman, 

Committee on Rules. 

Mr. Llewellyn, moved to lay the rules on the table and 
refer them to a committee composed of two engineers, 
two material men and two general contractors. 

Motion was lost after much discussion. 

Mr. Grienny, moved to reconsider vote taken on deferr- 
ing election of offlcers. 

Motion was carried. 

Mr. O'Beirne, moved that section three of the report of 
the Committee on Permanent Organization, especially 
that part referring toi permanent officers, be taken up. 

Motion was carried. 

Then followed the election of permanent officers by 
acclamation, as follows: J. A. Omberg, Jr., President; E. 
C. Huston, Vice-President; W. H. Flint, Secretar^^; H. J. 
Malochee, Treasurer. 

The Chairman appointed Messrs. Castanedo and 
O'Beirne, to escort Mr. Omberg to the chair. Mr. Oniberg 
pleasantly thanked the Association for the compliment 
it had paid him, and promised to rule on all questions as 
fairly and impartially as possible. 

Mr. Flint, relieved Mr. Malochee as Secretary, and the 
meeting continued under permanent organization. 

Motion made by Mr. O'Beirne, that the report of the 

168 



Committee ou Kules be adopted, with the understanding 
that the Committee submitted the rules as su«j;gestions 
and not as recommendations. 

Mr. Cole, warned the Convention of the danger of going- 
ahead too fast, and suggested as a conservative course 
that the Convention meet again at a later period to pass 
on the proposed rules, as he believed they would then be 
in a position to act more intelligently. 

Mr. Lev^Tuan, counseled that the Convention make haste 
slowh', that he believed if nothing more were done, a 
great advance had been made in the right direction, in 
getting together and discussing with the engineei^ pres- 
ent the various questions that had been brought up. He 
was heartily in favor of uniform specifications, but there 
were many suggestions in the report of the Committee 
on Ivules, that required careful consideration, and that 
he was opposed to any radical action, that might possibly 
result in defeating the purpose of this Association. 

Mr. ^AMlcox, said there were some rules he would not 
agree to observe ; there were others which might result in 
good; and that he believed with Mr. Lewman, if nothing 
was done, a great deal had been accomplished. That he 
listened to the various suggestions that had been made, 
both with pleasure and instruction. He believed a wise 
and conservative course should be adopted, and that it 
would be useless to adopt any rules that would not meet 
with the approval of consulting engineers. 

Mr. Glenny, seconded the motion to adopt report of 
Committee on Rules, and expressed himself as favoring a 
careful discussion and consideration of each rule. He 
believed the Convention could pass on the rules just as 
well at this time as at some ftiture period. 

Mr. Lockett, said he understood the particular object of 
this Association was to adopt a code of rules, and he 
thought the present time most opportune for that pur- 
pose. He believed that if the Convention adjourned 

169 



without taking definite action one way or tlie other, that 
it wonld be difficnlt to get the members present together 
again. He favored immediate action. 

Mr. Malochee, stated that while he recognized the wis- 
dom of the conrse proposed by some members to defer 
action on the adoption of the rules presented, he feared, 
in the event no action should be taken at this meeting, 
that there would not be as large an attendance at any 
future meeting as was now present. For that reason, he 
favored action on the rules by the members now i3resent. 

On the call of "Question," the President asked for a 
rising vote, and the motion to adopt the report of the 
Committee on Rules was carried. 

Motion was made by Mr. Lewman, that rules be voted 
upon separately. Amended by Mr. Huston, that a two- 
third vote be necessary for the adoption of a rule. Amend- 
ment was accepted, duly seconded and carried, with the 
following result : 

Rule 1. Lost. 

Rule 2. Lost. 

Rule 3. Adopted. 

Rule 4. Adopted. 

Rule 5. Amended to read, "Bids shall be opened and 
read in public. 

Rule 6. Adopted. 

Rule 7. Amended to read, "The amount of certified 
checks required shall be stated in advertisement calling 
for bids." 

On motion, the Convention adjourned at 6:30 P. M., to 
meet same evening at Great Southern Hotel, 8:30 P. M. 



Convention was called to order at 8:30 P. M., by Pres- 
ident Omberg, Secretary Flint at the desk. 

Telegrams expressing solicitation for the welfare of 
the Association Avere read by the Secretary from the fol- 
lowing: 

10. 1). ivy, Salisbury, N. O. 

170 



N. S. Shennan Mac-liiuery Co., Oklalionui ("\iy, Oklii. 

Black 4& Laird, Biniiiiijiliaiii, Ala. 

Capt. T. W. Nicoll, formerly city eiigiiieor of Mobile, 
Ala., made a short address to the Convent ion, whicli 
aronsed considerable enthnsiasm. lie stated that tlie 
proceedings of the Convention were a revelation to liim. 
He had in the conrse of a busy life attended many con- 
ventions, for many pur^ioses, but never had lie attendiMl 
a convention where so many conflicting- interests were 
present, and where such perfect harmony and good order 
prevailed. He said that the future of an association, or- 
ganized on the lines laid down by the American Public 
Works Association, was a briglit and useful one. That 
he commended the purposes and objects of the Associa- 
tion as most worthy, and from tlie standpoint of an en- 
gineer in every way desirable. That lie saw no reason 
why the Association should not groAv to be one of the 
largest and most prosperous in the country. Its field was 
so unlimited, its objects so equitable, its success so desir- 
able, that he believed the Association, and the rulings 
made by it, would meet with the approval of engineers in 
general. Speaking for himself, he said, he would adopt 
the rules endorsed by the Association. 

A hearty round of applause was given Capt. Xicoll as 
he closed his remarks. 

The Convention then i>roceeded with the consideration 
of the report of the Committe on Rules. The discus 4on 
became general, with results as follows: 

Eule 8. Adopted. 

Rule 9. Adopted. 

Rule 10. Amended, to strike out "within thirty days" 
and insert "without re-advertising." Adopted. 

Rule 11. Amended, to strike out "72 hours," and insert 
"thirty days." Adopted. 

Rule 12. Lost. 

Rule 13. Adopted. 

171 



Eule 14. Adopted. 

Rule 15. Adopted. 

Rule 16. Adopted. 

Rule 17. Adopted. 

Rule 18. Lost. 

Rule 19. Adopted. 

Rule 20. Lost. 

Rule 21. Adopted. 

Rule 22. Adopted. 

Rule 23. Adopted. 

Rule 24. Lost. 

Rule 25. Lost. 

Rule 26. Adopted. 

Rule 27. Adopted. 

Rule 28. Adopted. 

Rule. 29. Adopted. 

Rule 30. Amended to read ^^ou or before the fiftli day 
of eacli montli.'' Adopted. 

Rule 31. Adopted. 

Rule 32. Adopted. 

Rule 33. Lost. 

Rule 34. Lost. 

Rule 35. Amended, and adopted. 

Rule 36. Lost. 

Rule 37. Adopted. 

Rule 38. Lost. 

Rule 39. Lost. 

Rule 40. Adopted. 

Rule 41. Adopted. 

It was moved by Mr. Lockett, and dul}^ seconded, that 
the President appoint a committee of ^ye members to 
choose an Executive Committee. 

Motion was carried. 

President Omberg appointed as a Nominating Com- 
mittee: A. M. Lockett, E. J. O'Beirne, R. C. Huston, Mor- 
gan Llewellyn, and Ben Willard. 

172 



Oil motion the Couventiou adjournod at 12:15 P. M., to 
meet next day at Great Southern Hotel, 10 A. M. 

I'resident Omberg- called the Convention to order at 
10 A. M., Saturday, Angust 27th, 1901, Secretary Flint 
at the desk. 

Mr. Lockett, Chairman of the Committee on domina- 
tion for members of the Executive Committee, read the 
following' report: 

Mr. President: Your Committee on Nomination recom- 
mend as members of the Executive Committee: L. I). 
Lewnian, AV. F. \Allcox, T. W. Xicoll, M. F. Cole, A. J. 
BoAvron, and we further recommend that the number of 
members of the Executive Committee be increased from 
live to seven, and that the President be authorized to 
appoint two additional members. 

Eeport of Committee on Xomination was adopted, and 
the President appointed as members of the Executive 
Committee, Messrs. O'Beirne and Willard. 

The Convention then i3roceeded with the consideration 
of the report of Committee on Kiiles, with the following 
results: 

Eule 12. Lost. 

Eule 43. Lost. 

Pule 11. Lost. 

Rule 45. Lost. 

Rule 4G. Lost. 

Rule 47. Lost. 

Rule 48. Lost. 

Rule 49. Lost. 

Rule 50. Adopted. 

Rule 51. Adopted. 

Rule 52. Adopted. 

Rule 53. Amended, and adopted. 

Rule 51. Adopted. 

Rule 55. Adopted. 

Rule 5G. Adopted. 

Rule 57. Adopted. 

173 



Motion by Mr. Malocliee, seconded by Mr. Lewman: 

First, That the rules adopted be referred to the Execn- 
tiye Committee for publication and editing, it being un- 
derstood that in editing, the sequence and verbiage may 
be changed without, however, making any change in the 
expressed wish of the Association. 

Second, That Kules Numbers 2, 4, 9, 13, 14, 16, 23, 24, 
31, 32 and 33 are specially referred to the Executive Conb 
mittee for revision or elimination. 

Motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewman said he would like to hear from some of 
the engineers present and called on Mr. Wilcox. 

Mr. Wilcox made a most interesting talk. He said he 
believed the rules adopted were all right, that they were 
for the most part in accordance with his general specifi- 
cations, and he believed would meet with the approval of 
engineers generally. 

He commended the members of the Association for the 
very creditable manner in which the deliberations of the 
Convention had been conducted. It was, in his opinion, 
one of the most satisfactory and harmonious gatherings 
he had ever attended. He regretted that the attendance 
of engineers was so small, but believed the next annual 
meeting of the Association would find the profession well 
represented. He believed that uniform specifications 
were as desirable to the engineer as to the contractor, 
and that the efforts of the Association would ultimately 
be successful. 

Motion made, seconded, and carried, instructing the 
Secretary to place on the roll of members the names of 
persons, firms or corx)orations who had applied for mem- 
bership, but were not represented at this Convention. 

It was moved and seconded, that when this Convention 
adjourn, it will do so subject to the call of the Executive 
Committee. 

Motion Avas carried. 

174 



Ml'. l>owr«)ii calliMl llic alien l ion of llu- Conveiilioii to 
the fact that its hibors Avere at au eud; that he believed 
the Aniei'ieau Public AVorks Association at this, its first 
Convention, had accomplished more than any member 
had supposed could be done, and that the consen^atism, 
and consideration, Avhich had been shown on all ques- 
tions that had come before the Convention had been a 
l)leasant surprise to him; that the}' would leave for their 
homes with a feeling- of satisfaction at having been pres- 
ent. And, as all was owing to the work of one man, he 
would offer a resolution which he believed exjiressed the 
sentiment of all: 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are here- 
with tendered Mr. Edward J. O'Beirne, for his untiring- 
efforts, which have resulted in the organization of the 
American Public AVorks Association. 

Resolution Avas adopted unanimously. 

On motion the Convention adjourned sine die at 1. P. M. 

A large, tAVO-masted schooner was engaged during the 
afternoon, and the members enjoyed a delightful sail 
over the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 



RULES OF THE AMERICAX PUBLIC WORKS ASSO- 

CLA.TIOX, AS FLNTALLY APPROVED BY THE 

GULFPORT COXYEXTIOX. 

1. When State or municipal statutes conflict AAitli As- 
sociation rules, the latter shall be AA'aiA'ed. 

2. AMieu Avork is done on a percentage basis, security 
should be giA'en to guarantee estimate and faithful per- 
formance of the work. 

3. Designing engineer shall not compete for AA'ork ad- 
vertised to be let under his plans and specifications. 

4. Xo bids shall be asked until money to pay for the 
Avork has been jiroAided. 

175 



5. Bids shall be opened and read in public. 

6. No bids sliall be submitted after time named in ad- 
vertisement. 

7. No bids sliall be witlidrawn after time set for open- 
ing of bids. 

8. Illegibility or ambiguity sliall invalidate a bid. 

9. Bidders shall not be permitted to change prices stat- 
ed in bid. 

10. Bids shall state specifically make of apparatus or 
machinery proposed, and same shall be specified in con- 
tract. 

11. When all bids are rejected, new bids shall not be 
made on the same specifications without re-advertising. 

12. The amount of certified check required shall be 
stated in advertisement calling for bids. 

13. Bid bonds may be substituted for certified checks. 

14. Checks or bid bonds shall be returned to all but suc- 
cessful bidder as soon as award of contract is made. 

15. Award of contract shall be made within thirty days 
after bids have been opened, or checks returned to bid- 
ders. 

16. Bond shall not exceed twenty-five per cent, of con- 
tract price. 

17. Twenty days shall be alloAved contractor in which 
to furnish a satisfactory bond. 

18. In the event of discrepancies between the drawings 
and specifications, decision of the engineer shall be final. 

19. All instructions regarding work shall be given by 
the engineer or his assistants. 

20. Extra work shall only be done on written order of 
engineer, when authorized by contractee, at a price to be 
agreed upon. 

21. In deducting material not required, onl}^ the value 
of same shall be deducted. 

22. Changes in construction shall not be made to lessen 
quantities of material in transit or in progress of manu- 

176 



facture, unless contractor bi^ paid I'or all actual loss 
occasioned. 

23. AVlien a specific nnilce of macliineiy or a])])aratns is 
specified in contract, same shall be fnrnislied in accord- 
ance with manufacturers' plans and specifications, sub- 
mitted with bid. 

24. Engineer or his authorized assistants shall at all 
times have access to the work and. materials, for purpose 
of inspection, and have notice of concealed work before 
it is covered. 

25. In event of emergency work, contractor shall notify 
engineer, and engineer shall furnish inspector. 

26. When work done in regular progress of the con- 
tract, and ordered torn down for purpose of inspection, if 
found to be in accordance with the specifications, shall 
be at cost of contractee. 

27. Engineer shaU give written notice to contractor 
when work or material has been rejected. 

28. Monthly estimate shall be based on the contract 
price, and shall include all material delivered and labor 
performed during previous month. 

29. Monthly estimate shall be made on or before the 
fifth day of each month. 

30. Ten i3er cent, of monthly estimate shall be retained 
by contractee until work is completed. 

31. Time shall be allowed contractor for delay caused 
b}^ strikes, accidents, or other causes beyond his control. 

32. When work is completed, engineer shall accept or 
ieject same within a reasonable time. 

33. Contractor is released from all future responsibility 
when contractee takes possession of i^lant, whether set- 
tlement has been made or not, unless otherT\ise agreed. 

34. When work is accepted, ten per cent, retained shall 
be paid in final settlement, and bond shall be released 
and returned, except where a time guarantee has been 
agreed upon. 

177 



35. Arbitration sliall be resorted to in all cases before 
applying to the courts. 

NOTE. — ^In drawing specifications, if engineers will in- 
sert "Work to be done under Rules of American Public 
Work Association/' it will not be necessary to print rules 
in full in specifications. 

BUSINESS— HEART TO HEART TALKS WITH 

PHILISTINES BY THE PASTOR 

OF HIS FLOOR. 

Tbe civilized world is now experiencing a great Mental 
and Spiritual Awakening. 

It is an Awakening similar to that of Greece in tbe 
time of Pericles; of Rome in the time of Augustus; of 
Italy in the time of Michael Angelo — say, in the year 
1492, when Columbus set sail and the invention of print- 
ing gave learning to the peo^Dle. 

We are living in the greatest time the world has ever 
seen — ^a time that will live in history as The Great Amer- 
ican Renaissance. Some v^dll call it "The Age of Edison." 

Beginning with a shower of inventions and discoveries, 
this Awakening has extended to every domain of human 
thought and endeavor. The vast changes, for example in 
the matter of Transportation, only symbol the changes 
that have occurred in our ideals of right and wrong. 
Within thirty years' time we have evolved: 

A new science of Education. 

A new science of Theology. 

A neAv science of Medicine. 

A new science of Penology. 

A new science of Business. 

Emerson defines Commerce as the taking of things from 
wluM'e they ar(^ ])h'ii1irnl to wliei'(^ Ihey iwo niMMh^l. 

178 



business is that licl'l of cndcaNiH- wliicli iiiHl(*rtak<*s to 
sni)i)ly the materials to hmnanily that life (hMiiaiids. 

The clergy are our spiritual advisors, i)iei)ariii.u ns for 
a good place iu another world. The lawyers advise us on 
legal themes — showing ns how to obey the law, or else 
evade it, aiul tluw protect ns from lawytn-s. The (hx-tors 
look after ns when disease belief attacks our bodies. 

And until abont the year 18TG, we called Theology, Law 
and Medicine "The Three Learned Professions." If Ave 
nse the phrase now, it is only in a Pickwickian sense — 
for we realize that there are noAV fifty-seven varieties of 
learned men. 

The greatest and most important of all the professions 
is that of Commerce or Business. Medicine and Law 
have their specialties — a dozen each — bnt lousiness has 
ten thonsand specialties or diAisions. 

So important do we now recognize Bnsiness, or this 
ministering to the material wants of hnmanity that 
Theology has shifted its gronnd, and within a fcAv years 
has declared that to eat rightly, dress rightly and Avork 
rightly are the fittest preparation for a life to come. 

The best laAAwers now are Bnsiness Men, and their 
work is to keej) the commercial craft in a safe channel 
where it will not split on the rocks of litigation nor foun- 
der in the shalloAA^s of misunderstanding. EA^ery laAAwer 
will tell yon this, "To make money yon must satisfy your 
customers." 

The greatest change in business came AAitli the One 
Price System. This has all been brought about since the 
CiYil War . 

The old idea was for the seller to get as much as he 
possibly could for CA'ery thing he sold. Short weight, 
short count and inferiority in quality were considered 
quite proper and right, and when you bought a dressed 
turkey from a farmer, if you did not discoA'er the stone 
inside the turkey when you weighed it and paid for it, 

179 



tliere was no redress. Tlie laugh was on you. And more- 
over a legal maxim — caveat emptor^ — ^^"let the buyer be- 
ware/' made cheating legally safe. 

Dealers in clothing guaranteed neither fit nor qualit}^, 
and anything you paid for, once wrapped up and in your 
hands, was yours beyond recall — "Let the buyer beware !'' 

A few hundred years ago business was transacted 
mostly through fairs, ships, and by peddlers. Your mer- 
chant of that time was a peripatetic rogue who reduced 
prevarication to a system. 

The booth gradually evolved into a store, with the 
methods and customs of the irresponsible keeper intact, 
the men cheated their neighbors and chuckled in glee 
until their neighbors cheated them, which of course, they 
did. Then they cursed each other, began again and did 
it all over. John Quincy Adams tells of a certain deacon 
who kept a store near Boston, who always added in the 
year 1775, at top of column, as seventeen dollars and 
seventy-five cents. 

The amount of misery, grief, disappointment, shame, 
distress, woe, suspicion and hate, caused by a system 
which wrapped up one thing when the buyer expected 
another, and took advantage of his innocence and ignor- 
ance as to quality and value, cannot be computed in fig- 
ures. Suffice it to say that duplicity in trade has had to 
go. The self-preservation of the race demanded honesty, 
square dealing, one-price to all. 

The change only came after a struggle, and we are not 
quite sure of the one-price yet. 

But we have gotten thus far, that the man who cheats 
in trade is tabu. Honesty as a business asset is fully 
recognized. If you would succeed in business you can't 
afford to sell a man something ho does not want; neither 
can you afford to disappoint him in qualit}^ any more 
1lini) in coiiTit. 

Oilier Ihiiigs IxMng (H]iial, the merchant wlio has llie 

180 



inostlriciuls, will make the most iikjiicv. Oiii- eueinies 
will not deal with us. 

To make a sale aud acquire an enemy is poor policy. 
To a peddler or a man Avho ran a booth at a bazaar or 
fair, it was ^'get your mone}- now or never.'^ Buyer and 
seller were at Avar. One transaction and they never met 
again. The air was full of hate and suspicion, and the 
savage propensit}' of pln^^sical destruction was refined to 
a point where hypocrisy and untruth took the place of 
violence. The buyer w^as as bad as the seller — if he could 
bu}^ below cost he boasted of it. To catch a merchant 
who had to have money was glorious — ^we smote him hip 
and thigh! Later we discovered that being strangers he 
took us in. 

The One Price System has come as a necessity, since it 
reduces the frictions of life and protects the child or sim- 
ple person in the selection of things needed, just the 
same as if the buyer were an expert in values and a per- 
son who could strike back if imposed upon. Safety, peace 
and decency demanded the One Price System. And so 
we haye it — vrith possibly a discount to the clergy, to 
school teachers and relatives as close as second cousins. 
But when vce reach the point where we see that all men 
are brothers, we will have absolute honesty and One 
Price to all. 

And so behold we find the Government making favorit- 
ism in trade a crime and enforcing the One Price System 
by law. And just remember this, law is the crystalliza- 
tion of public opinion and no law not backed up by the 
will of the people can be enforced. As we grow" better 
we haA'e better law^s. In Kansas City last w^eek three 
men w^ere fined forty thousand dollars each for cutting 
prices. They were railroad men and railroads have only 
one thing to sell, and that is transportation. To cut the 
X)rice on it and sell to some at a less figure than to others, 

181 



is now considered not only immoral, bnt actually crimi- 
nal. The world moves. 

And this change in the methods of Business, and in 
our mental attitude towards trade have all grown out of 
dimly-perceived but deeply felt belief in the Brotherhood 
of Man, of the Solidarity of the Race. 

Also in the further belief that life in all of its manifes- 
tations is Divine. 

Therefore he who ministers to the happiness and well- 
being of the life of another is a priest and is doing God's 
work. 

Men must eat, they must be -clothed, they must be 
housed. 

It is quite as necessary that you should eat good food, 
as that you should read good books, hear good music, 
hear good sermons or look upon beautiful pictures. 

The necessary is the sacred. There are no menial tasks. 
"He that is greatest among you shall be your servant." 
The physical reacts on the spiritual and the spiritual on 
the physical, and rightly understood, are one and the 
same thing. We live in a world of spirit and our bodies 
are the physical manifestation of a spiritual thing, which 
for lack of a better word we call "God." 

We change men by changing their environment. Com- 
merce changes the environment and gives us a better 
society. To supply good water, better sanitary' appli- 
ances, better heating apparatus, better food served in a 
more dainty way — these are all tasks Avorthy of the high- 
est intelligence and devotion that can be brought to bear 
upon them, and every Christian preacher in tiie world 
to-day so recognizes, believes and preaches. 

We have ceased to separate tlie secular froui the sa- 
cred. That is sacred which serves. 

Once a business man was a person who not only thrived 
by taking advantage of tlie ncH'essities of people, but 
who l){nilaMl on llieir ignoi'juice of valnes. Bnt all wise 

182 



men noAV knoAV lliat tlie Avay lo liel]) yourself is to help 
Inimauity. 

AN'e benefit onrselves only as we IxMiefit ollieis. 

And the reeo,^nition of these trnths is Avhat has to-day 
l)la('ed the Business Man at the head of the learned pro- 
fessions — he ministers to the necessities of humanity. — 
Elbert TTubbard, in "The Philistine." 



THE ATLANTA SMOKER. 

There is a social side to the meetings of the American Pub- 
lic Works Association — a very pleasant feature of its conven- 
tions — as was well exemplified at the smoker given by the Con- 
vention Committee, to4:he members of the Association at Hotel 
Aragon. The Smoker, by the way, was a bright affair, almost 
as bright as the cigar tips around the festive board, crowded full of 
sparkling wit, wholesome good cheer, and unstinted measure of 
the good things of life. 

Secretar}^ Flint, the incomparable, was toast master on this oc- 
casion, and all who were fortunate enough to be there, will re- 
call with pleasure, the clear tones of the silver voiced W. B. 
King; the recollections of Jas. E. Brady; the conservatism of P. 
J. Casey; the ringing words of J. T. Rose; the wisdom of How- 
ard Neely; all of which formed a picture worth hanging on 
Memorj^'s wall. 

The assemblage was a representative one, and all in all a fair 
reflection of the brains and business of our Association, for all 
of which thanks are due our Convention Committee. 

FINIS 



a» 



183 



MEMBERS 

American Public Works 
Association 



^ The Executive Committee has purchased 200 
solid gold emblems to be worn by members of our 
Association. They are neat and tasteful in design, 
finished in white enamel center, having Goddess 
of Justice in gold, royal blue enamel rim, with the 
words "American Public Works Association" in 
gold letters. Emblem can be ordered as a hat pin, 
scarf pin or button at the net price of Two 
Dollars each. There will be no chance to get 
these emblems after this lot has been sold except 
from the Manufacturer who charges five dollars 
each for same. 
^ Don't wait but write at once. 



Sknd ordkrs to 

Wm. H. flint, Sec 'y. 

American Public Works Association, 

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. 



"All work, done under rule* of American Public Works Association" 

EDWARD J. O'BEIRNE 

CONSULTING ENGINEER 

Plans, Specifications and Estimates for '— — ^— — 

GAS WORKS 
WATER WORKS 
SEWERAGE SYSTEMS 
WATER POWERS 
STREET RAILWAYS 
POWER PLANTS 
ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANTS 
TRANSMISvSION SYSTEMS 

Arbitration a Specialty, 
821 EMPIRE BUILDING 

Atlanta, Georgia 

"All work done under rules of American Public Works Association" 

EDWARD J. O'BEIRNE. CHARLIE GIBBS HARPER, M. H. O'BEIRNE, 

President Vice-President Secy. & Treas. 

GENERAL CONTRACTING CO. 

ENGINEERS and CONTRACTORS 

Electric Railway, 
Light and Power Plants 
Gas and Water Works 
Sewerage Systems 
Transmission Lines 
Hydraulic Development 

WORK TAKEN OX BASIS OF 

Cost - Plus- A - Fixed - Sum • Contract 

WRITE US IF WE CAN SERVE YOU 

820 EMPIRE BUILDING 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 

185 



Harrisburg Foundry & Machine Works 

Manufacturers of 

FLEMING ENGINES 

SIDE CRANK, FOUR VALVE, SIMPLE TANDEM AND CROSS COMPOUND TYPES 




If you desire the best economy in steam consumption write us for information 
on our Four Valve Engines. 

The best MATERIAL, WORKMANSHIP and RESULTS are our guarantees. 

GLENNY & CASTANEDO, 

EMPIRE BUILDING SOUTHERN M^rs. HIBERNIA BANK BLDG. 
ATLANTA, GA. * NEW ORLEANS. LA. 



ARTHUR PEW 

Member American Society of Civil Engineers (N. Y.) 
Institution of Civil Engineers (London) 



CONSULTING ENGINEER 

619-620 Temple Court 
ATLANTA, - - GEORGIA 

1S6 



Engineers and Contractors 
in the South 



z 



HE opportunity in the South for Engineering and Con- 
tracting work is constant!}' growing. On account of the 
open cHmate, work on 

WATER WORKS 
SEWERAGE SYSTEMS 
WATER POWERS 
STREET RAILWAYS 
STEAM ROADS 
STREETS 
BRIDGES 
ROADS 

and similar undertakings can be carried on throughout the year, insuring 
continuous work all the year round. If you want to get some of this work, 
the 

MANUFACTURERS' 
RECORD 

is the logical and natural paper to use. If you want to keep in touch 
with advertisements of contracts to let you must of necessity read the 
Manufacturers' Record. For Z5 years it has been working for the indus- 
trial advancement of the South, and is the South 's recognized authority on 
every phase of material development. It is indispensable in any plan 
made for Southern business. Price S^-.OO a year. 

WRITE US FOR ADVERTISING RATES 

Manufacturers' Record Publishing 

BALTIMORE CoHlpany MARYLAND 

The [Manufacturers' Record publishes ad- 
vance information resrarding every new engi- 
neering project, building operation and in- 
dustrial undertaking of consequence in 
the vSouth. This information is published 
every business day in the year, in our Daily 
Bulletin, which is sent free to advertisers. 
vSubscription price $25 per year. 



Tanner'^s Ventilator 








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Patented May 3, 1904 
—MADE BY 



THE SUBERS CO. 

Manufadlurefs of 

Metal Cornices, Skylights, Windo\^^s, 

Tin, Tile, Slate and Gravel Roofers 
Macon, : : Georgia 



Automatic Air Lock and Siphonic Apparatus 

OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 

(Miller & Adams' Patents) 

For Operating Bacterial Sewage Filters, Septic Tank System of Sewage Disposal 
Sv ALSO THE ^ 

Miller, Miller - Potter, Rhodes -Miller and Rhodes-Williams 
AUTOMATIC SIPHONS 

For Intermittent Flush Tanks — for Flushing Street Sewers 
NO MOVING PARTS IN ANY OF OUR APPARATUS 

Send for Illustrated Catalogue 

PACIFIC FLUSH TANK CO. 

The Temple, l84 LaSalle Street, CHICAGO 

Eastern Agency Canadian Aoent VICTOR IIIIvTv, C. 1\. 

42 Broadway, New York Cil\- ''■ <>■ H''^ 245, Niagara Vans, oniaric 



THE GILBRETH SYSTEM 



AND THE 



COST- PLUS- A- FIXED -SUM 
CONTRACT. 



It is simpl}' through the application of industrial organiza- 
tion and system, and the establishment of relations between the 
owner and contractor by which the interests of both are abso- 
lutely identical, that the Gilbreth syvStem and the cost-plus-a- 
fixed-sum contract have secured and can alwa\\s secure results in 
speed, economy and quality, not procurable by an}- other system. 

The fact that over 90 per cent, of the work in this organiza- 
tion is on repeat orders for owners, architects and engineers who 
have previously demonstrated by actual practice the benefits to 
them of the Gilbreth s\^stem and the cost-plus-a-fixed-sum con- 
tract, is the best evidence, short of actual working demonstra- 
tion, that we can offer of the intrinsic value and soundness of 
the principles underl3dng our business. 

We solicit correspondence from architects, engineers and 
owners who desire to know more about our methods. 



FRANK B. GILBRETH, 
GENERAL CONTRACTOR. 



Main Office: Western Office: 

34 West 26th Street 604 Mission Street 

New York San Francisco 



Watson -Flagg Engineering Co, 



INCORPORATED 



CONTRACTING, 
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS 



10 West Alabama St. Atlanta, Georgia 



WHERE OTHERS FAIL, WE SUCCEED" 



• •• M 1. M. H—J ••• 

Orleans Engineering Go. 



CONSULTING, DESIGNING 
AND CONTRACTI NG 
- - ENGINEERS - - 



Electric Railways, Complete Lighting, Water, 
Sk ^ Sewerage and Power Plants ik A 



OFFICES: 



TI3-7I4 Macheca Bldg. - - New Orleans 



The Babcock & Wilcox Co., Henry R. Worthington, 

WATER TUBE BOILERS. HYDRAULIC MACHINERY 

New York. New York. 



A. M. LOCKETT & CO.. Ltd 

CONTRACTING MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 



343 BARONNE STREET NEW ORLEANS 



General Elec tric Co. 

COMPLETE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENTS FOR ALL 
CLASSES OF SERVICE. 



CURTIS STEAM TURBINES 

Elecftric Power Installations 
STREET RAILW^AY APPARATUS 

Sing^le Phase Raihva\- Motor Equipments for Inter-Urban Service. 
Street Lighting, Electrical Supplies of all Classes. 



PRINCIPAL OFFICE: ATLANTA OFFICE: 

Schenedlady, N. Y. Empire Building 



Huston Engineering Co, 



Civil and Consulting 



Engineers 



Hattiesburg, : : : Miss 



N. WILSON DAVIS 

rvi. Am. Soc. C. E. 

Designs Water-Works, Sewerage, 

AND 

Hydraulic Power Plants. 

HARRISONBURG, : : VIRGINIA 






R. D. Wood (Si Co. 

ENGINEERS. IRON 
FOUNDERS. MACHINISTS 



; 400 Chestnut Street. 


Philadelphia, Pa. 


f FOUNDRIES AND WORKS: 




] Millville, N. J. Florence, N. J. 


Camden, N. J. 



*»»»»»»»»»>•»»•>»»>•>»>»•>»»»»»* 




Constructors of 

Gas and Water 
Works 



Manufacture 

Every Description of 

Cast Iron Pipe 

Mathews ' 
{ Fire Hydrants. 

Single and Double Valve. 

GATE VALVES, 

INDICATOR POSTS, 

Gas Power Plants 

With Producers. 

j Steam Pumping 
Machinery 



Hardie-Tynes Manufacturing Co. 



BUILDERS OF 




Heavy Duty 
CORLISS EKGINES 

Air Compressors 
Hoisting Engines 



Complete Po\vef and Air 
Lift Plants. 



Address 

Hardie-Tynes Manufacturing Co. 

Birmingham, Alabama 

Martin J. Lide 

CONSULTING 

Electrical and Mechanical 
ENGINEER 

STEAM POWER PLANTS MUNICIPAL LIGHTING AND 

ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT POWER PLANTS 

OF INDUSTRIES STEAM AND HOT WATER 

ELECTRIC MINING PLANTS HEATING 

PUMPING and CONDENSING PLANTS 
REPORTS 

ESTIMATES 218-219 ^Woodward Bld'g- 

fifvisioN BIRMINGHAM. ALA. 



Chicago Bridge and Iron Works 



I 



105th and Throop Sts. 



Chicago, III 




Largest Water Tower Ever Built 

Capacity 1,200,000 Gallons. Height to Top of Tank 220 feet. 



Vitrified Salt Glazed Sewer Pipe 

For Sanitary and Storm W^ater Sewers, 

Street Crossings, Road Culverts 

and Drainage. 



"Our pipe has the improved deep and wide 
sockets, corrugated spigots and sockets." 

yS/E MANUFACTURE 

Superior Vitrified Sewer Pipe, 

Double Strength Extra Thick Culvert Pipe. 

Vitrified Wall Coping. 

Fine Lining and Thimbles. 

WRITE US FOR PRICKS 

Southern Sewer Pipe Company, 

p. O. Box 238. Birmingham, Ala. 



Abee and Edwards, 

GENERAL CONTRACTORS 



AND 



BUILDERS SUPPLIES, 

Heavy construction. 

Brick, concrete, water HICKORY, N. C. 

and sewer work our ==z=z::^== 

specialties. 



TXe JOHN H. McGOWAN CO. 

BUILDERS OF 

SINGLE and DUPLEX 

Steam and Power Driven 



PUMPING 
MACHINERY 

FOR 

FACTORY, 

QUARRY. 
MILL and MINE 
SERVICE 




HIGH PRESSURE 




FACTORY 
OFFICES 

54 

CENTRAL 

AVE. 



CINCINNATI, OHIO 



Southern Department 



Eureka Fire Hose Company 

p. O. HEBERT, Manager. 



OFFICES: 

Atlanta, Ga. Dallas, Texas. 

615 Peters Bldg. 846 Wilson Bldg. 




LEADITE 

THE BEST PIPE JOINTING MATERIAL 
FOR WATER AND GAS MAINS, ETC. 



NO CAULKING REQUIRED. COST LESS THAN 
ONE-THIRD THE COST OF LEAD. ONE TON 
WILL DO MORE WORK THAN FIVE TONS OF 
LEAD. JOINTS WILL NEVER LEAK. IN USE 11', 
YEARS IN PHILADELPHIA. PA. NOW^ ADOPTED 
BY \^^ATER DEPARTMENT. IN USE IN MANY 
CITIES 

WRITE FOR PAMPHLET, PRICES, ETC. 



The ueadite Gompany o/MiPH 

G^Z. Heed Bitildins PmlSliiStefi 



XHE VtSO KECOIID 



George A. and William B.King 

Attorneys at Law 

No. 728 Seventeenth St., Washington, D. C. 



Special attention to cases against 
the United States in the Court of 
Claims arising out of government 
contracts, involving claims for 
time penalties improperly deducted, 
obstructions and delays in the per- 
formance of contracts, extra work 
done, and other breaches of contract 
by the United States. 



J. S. SLICER 

Attorney and Counselor at Law 

1222 EMPIRE BtlLDING 

ATLANTA, GA. 



<«» 



Member Executive Committee American Public Works Association. 



^i F you want a Bidders' 
Jf} Bond, a Contract Bond or 
Employers Liability In- 
surance, apply to FAIR DODD, 
Atlanta, G eorgia. General 
Agent of the Aetna Indemnity 
Company and the Frankfort 
Marine, Accident and Plater 
Glass Insurance Company. 



E. C. HATHAWAY, President >^. H. TAYLOR. Vice-Preisdent 

D. J. CALLAHAN, Secretary N. BEAMAN. Treasurer 

EDWIN F. KITSON, Manager. 



Southern Contracting Co. 

ROOMS 910, 911, 912, 913 
National Bank of Commerce Bldg., Norfolk, Va. 



PAVING, REINFORCED CONCRETE, ELECTRIC ROADS 
\^ATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS 

ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANTS 

xiv 



Allis-Ghalmers Company, 

MILWAUKEE, WIS., L). S. A. 



fl Furnish complete power and electrical equipments 
of every description, whether the prime mover is a 
steam turbine, reciprocating steam engine, gas 
engine or hydraulic turbine. 

^ Engineers and Contractors now realize the ad- 
vantage of having the complete power equipment 
covered by one contract, thereby avoiding any 
division of responsibility and its attendant evils. 

SOUTHERN OFFICE 
Fourth National Bank BId'g ^ Atlanta, Ga, 



The Bourbon Copper & Brass I 




Works Company 



Manufacturers of 



Fire Hydrants and Stop Valves 

W^ater W^orks and Fire Department 
Supplies and Extension Valve Boxes 

Long Distance 'Phone, No. 1939 618 and 620 E. Front St.. CINCINNATI, 0. 



The Piatt Iron Works Co 

Dayton, Ohio, and all Large Cities 



BUILDERS OF 



Pumping Machinery, 
\yater ^^heels. Oil Mill 
Machinery, Rendering Ap- 
paratus. Air Compressors, 
Feed "Water Heaters and 
Purifiers, Condensers, and 
all steam power plant appa- 



ratus. 



HIGH GRADE 

T> OILERS, Tanks, Stacks, Stand 

Pipes, Trusses and Building 

^ Sewer Castings, Water 

Works Supplies and Repairs 



LOMBARD, 



TRY I J 1^1 WIX M I I AUGUSTA, GA. 



Foundry, Machine & Boiler Works 

200 HANDS 



Fellow Member: 

American Public Works 

Association, 

DEAR SIR: — 

As a result of tlie active co-operation of the indi\idual 
members of the Association, with tlie Secretary and the Execu- 
tive Committee, there has recently l^een a very marked increase 
in the number of applications for membership received. 

You will materially assist in this work if you will kindly 
send the name and address of as many eligible and desirable per- 
sons, firms or corporations, as may occur to \"ou, whom you cannot 
reach personalh', to EDW^ARD J. O'BEIRXE, Chairman Execu- 
tive Committee, American PfBLic Works Associatiox, 821 
ICmpire Building, Atlanta, Georgia, in order that the Executive 
Committee may call their attention to the work of the Associa- 
tion. 

If you do not indicate to the contrary the I{xecutive 
Committee, will write to each address given, and call attention 
to the objects of the Association, together with the statement 
that the name has been suggested by you as that of a desirable 
member. 

If you can. have application card filled out by candidate 
for membership, and mail same direct to Wm. H. FLINT, Sec- 
retary. American Pubijc Works Association, Chattanooga, 
Tennessee, and your action will be both appreciated and hel]:)ful. 

It only requires effort on the part of each individual mem- 
ber to bring our membership to 1,000, which assures the .gen- 
eral adoption of the rules of our Association. 
Yours ver\- truly, 

EDWARD J. O'BEIRXE. 

Chairman Exkcutivp: Committee. 

xvii 



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